AREA DRIVERS ESCAPE INJURY AFTER SATURDAY AFTERNOON COLLISIONS

Area drivers escaped injury after a pair of collisions in Northeast Missouri on Saturday afternoon.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol responded to a two-vehicle accident just after 1 p.m. in Callaway County, just north of Interstate 70.  Troopers report that 47-year-old Jonathan Christie of Owensboro, Ky. attempted to turn left into the westbound lanes of Route 54 at Dunn Drive in Kingdom City. Christie sideswiped a car driven by 56-year-old Hector Chavarria Avilez, causing his bike to fall over and partially eject him. Christie was taken to a Columbia hospital, while Chavarria Avilez had no reported injuries.

Less than a hour later, in Marion County, a Pilot Grove driver became involved in a two-vehicle collision that caused serious injuries to another driver.  According to the Highway Patrol, 40-year-old Christopher Kammerich was driving north on Route 24 about two miles south of Palmyra in Marion County. At around 1:20 p.m., a trailer he was hauling was struck by an SUV from the soundbound land driven by 72-year-old Nancy Colbert of Clarksville. Colbert was flown to a Columbia hospital for treatment. Kemmerich had no reported injuries.