photo by: Contributed photo/Truston Jacobs

Local law enforcement are seen responding to a semitruck crash on Kansas Highway 10 near the 27th Street intersection in southwest Lawrence on March 5, 2021.

A semitruck crash on Kansas Highway 10 in Lawrence last week resulted in no injuries because the driver and passenger of the truck were both wearing their seat belts, Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Donald Hughes told the Journal-World Friday.

The crash occurred on March 5 near the highway’s intersection with 27th Street in southwest Lawrence. A Highway Patrol officer who responded to the crash saw that the truck appeared to have crossed traffic, entered an embankment on the east side of the highway and crashed into a culvert, Hughes said.

“That truck was messed up pretty good,” Hughes said. “Even as horrible as it looked, nobody was injured because they were wearing their seat belts.”

photo by: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

A damaged semitruck is seen at the Kansas Highway 10 and 27th Street intersection on March 5, 2021.

The driver of the truck told the Highway Patrol that the crash was caused by a mechanical failure of the vehicle. Hughes said the crash was still under investigation.

Several readers reached out to the Journal-World about the crash over the last week, but local law enforcement agencies had few details about it. While the Lawrence Police Department and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office both assisted in the response to the crash, officials for both agencies said they could not provide any details because the Highway Patrol was leading the investigation. Additionally, the Highway Patrol did not post an online crash report for the incident; Hughes said Friday that the Highway Patrol only posts crash reports when an injury or fatality occurs.