Three vehicles were involved in a traffic accident just west of the interchange of U.S. Highway 30 and South Duff Avenue on Tuesday night, killing one and critically injuring another.

A white Chevrolet van was traveling east in the inside westbound lane around 8:20 p.m. when it collided head-on with an oncoming purple Saturn two-door car, witnesses said.

The driver of the car was killed, and the driver of the van was airlifted to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines and is listed as being in critical condition. A silver Chevrolet pickup, also traveling west, clipped the first two vehicles, causing significant damage to the driver’s side.

The identities of the drivers involved in the accident were not disclosed at the time of print. Initial witness reports indicated that the driver of the van was male and the driver of the car was female.

Ames resident Jeff Cunningham, who was driving west as the accident occurred, said the victim’s car had just completed passing three vehicles and was attempting to re-enter the right land at the time that the collision occurred.

Cunningham said it is likely the driver of the Saturn did not notice the oncoming van because he or she was trying to merge.

“It’s like neither one of them saw what was happening,” Cunningham said. “There were no brake lights.”

Ames resident Shaun Houston was just east of Boone driving east with his wife and 2-year-old daughter when he said he was passed by the van already driving in the wrong direction.

“I called the police from Boone, but there was a slow response,” Houston said.

Houston kept pace with the vehicle from the outer eastbound lane from Boone to the crash site using his flashers and horn to warn oncoming drivers. He said the driver of the van appeared to be “in a daze,” driving approximately 55 mph to the outskirts of Ames then accelerating to around 80 mph for approximately the last two miles leading up to the collision.

Houston’s wife Ashley Angaran said Houston spoke with police for several miles as they followed the van and called a second time following the accident.

“People were honking their horns at him, they were flashing their lights at him – he hit a construction cone a couple of miles back,” Angaran said.

Cunningham said emergency responders arrived soon after the accident.

“I grabbed my phone, hit 911, it rang two times and I heard sirens so I hung up,” he said.

The van and pickup came to a rest in the median with the van on its driver’s side. The victim’s car remained on the road facing north.

The impact crushed the car by more than a foot while the driver’s side hood of the van was compressed to the firewall with its rear seats scattered through the median and spare tire nearly reaching the shoulder of the eastbound lane.

More than a dozen emergency vehicles responded to the scene, including Boone and Story County Sheriffs’ Offices, Ames Fire and Rescue, Ames Police and the Iowa Department of Transportation.

A life-flight for the driver of the van arrived at approximately 9 p.m. and left the scene with the driver at approximately 9:15 p.m.