Teen Driver Swats at Spider; It Ends Badly for 11 People

A teenage girl in Kansas is the latest arachnophobic driver to have become more dangerous than any spider. The Kansas Highway Patrol says 17-year-old Diana Nicole Bell was on the highway east of Great Bend when she noticed a spider on her lap and let go of the steering wheel to try to kill it, reports the Hutchinson News. Her eastbound vehicle crossed the center line and hit a Jeep head-on, which then slammed into an eastbound minivan in a collision that damaged a fourth vehicle with debris, the Great Bend Tribune reports.

A total of 11 people were taken to a local hospital for treatment after the Sunday afternoon pileup, including five young children, the Tribune reports. The AP notes that 10 out of the 11 people injured were released the same day and one stayed in the hospital overnight in stable condition. Everybody involved was wearing either a seat belt or a safety restraint, per the Tribune. In recent weeks, drivers afraid of spiders have jumped from a moving car and set a gas pump on fire. (A spider also got the blame in this viral motorcycle crash.)