Driver in fatal accident identified

A truck's load shift is the apparent cause of a fatal accident this morning on K-32 near 78th Street in Kansas City, Kan. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)
A truck’s load shift is the apparent cause of a fatal accident this morning on K-32 near 78th Street in Kansas City, Kan. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)

The Kansas Highway Patrol has identified the truck driver who died in a fatal accident this morning on westbound K-32 at 78th as William R. Ferguson Jr., 45, of Leavenworth Kan.

He was driving a 2005 Sterling truck registered in Missouri at about 8:50 a.m. when he braked suddenly, according to the report, causing a load of lumber to shift and crush the truck’s cab.

He braked suddenly because a 79-year-old Basehor, Kan., woman driving a Ford passenger car turned in front of him, according to the trooper’s report.

The 79-year-old woman was taken to an area hospital, according to the report. The report stated she was not injured.