Three people were injured Monday in an accident along U.S. Highway 24/59 near the Jefferson and Douglas county line.

The two-vehicle accident happened at about 12:45 p.m. by the Douglas-Jefferson County Landfill turnoff.

A Chevrolet hauling truck was eastbound on the highway and slowed to turn left into the entrance to the landfill, officials said. While slowing down to turn, a Dodge van rear-ended the truck and became partially lodged beneath it.

“The truck driver didn’t know the van had struck,” said Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Dennis Shoemaker. “He just felt a sudden bump.”

Shoemaker said the trucker driver continued turning left – dragging the van behind it – before stopping by the roadside.

Melody L. Horvath, 36, of Topeka, was driving the van. Horvath and her 9-year-old son, David, were taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital by ambulances. Josh Horvath, 13, was transported to the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., by helicopter.

Shoemaker said the Horvaths were coherent when he arrived on the scene of the accident.

The truck driver, Andrew L. Petesch, 24, of Meriden, wasn’t seriously injured, Shoemaker said.

Lawrence resident Charlie Naramore, 17, was at a stop sign planning to turn onto U.S. 24/59 when the accident happened. He said he didn’t see brake lights for the van until it was very close to the truck.

“There wasn’t much time to slow down then,” he said.

Naramore was headed into Lawrence from his family’s rural home, which is just off the highway. He called his father, John, after the accident happened.

“This is a bad stretch of highway,” said John Naramore, on the scene of the accident. “There are quite a few accidents along here and there’s a lot of truck traffic.”

Shoemaker, who has been with the Kansas Highway Patrol for seven years, said he had handled two or three accidents involving trucks in the area.