One woman was killed and another left in serious condition following an accident on I-70 Sunday afternoon.
Nicole Buffa, 19, was driving westbound on I-70 when she lost control of her 2000 Lexus causing it to travel off the roadway into the median, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol online traffic report.
The vehicle then struck the median cable and continued into the eastbound lanes. Buffa crashed head-on into a 2001 Chevrolet in the passing lane. Debris from the two vehicles struck a third vehicle causing damage.
Audra Snyder, 43, of Topeka, Kan., the driver of the Chevrolet, was pronounced dead at 1:52 p.m. at University Hospital.
The driver of the third car, Nathan Anderson, 21, had only minor damage to his vehicle. It was driven away from the scene.
Buffa, a second-year MU student from Lake St. Louis, was the only party not wearing a seatbelt. Following the accident, she was transported by ambulance to the MU University Hospital where she is still in serious condition.
“She’s unresponsive and unable to give a statement,” Trooper B. R. Germann said.
The Highway Patrol does not know how Buffa lost control of the vehicle but said there was no alcohol involved.
Germann said at this moment no tickets have been given.
“There will be a seatbelt ticket issued to the driver of vehicle 1 (Buffa),” he said. “Right now there is still a pending investigation whether there will be a ticket issued for careless and imprudent driving.”