A 35-year-old Ottawa man remained in serious condition Friday after his truck struck a tree Thursday night on U.S. Highway 59 about 11 miles south of Lawrence.

Authorities said Allen Bishop was involved in another accident seconds before he was injured, and the Kansas Highway Patrol is investigating the possibility Bishop was driving recklessly on the two-lane highway, Highway Patrol Lt. John Eichkorn said.

Lt. Kari Wempe, a Douglas County Sheriff spokeswoman, said Bishop was driving north in the southbound lane of U.S. 59 near the junction with North 150 Road.

A 61-year-old Nevada, Mo., man was headed south in a 2005 Freightliner semitrailer and swerved to avoid Bishop but was still side-swiped, Wempe said. No one was injured in that accident at 6:55 p.m.

Seconds later Bishop struck the rear of a southbound vehicle and then his truck hit a tree. He was flown by LifeStar helicopter to the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan.