Two separate crashes involving four vehicles on U.S. 35 west Friday afternoon clogged traffic and sent two people to hospitals.

In the first crash, a 36-year-old Kettering woman driving a white Accura spun out of control near James H. McGee Boulevard at about 5:30 p.m., smacked a wall along the median, which left her coupe facing the wrong way, but off the roadway. She was not injured.

The woman gave police no reason for losing control of her car, but told them she was traveling 55 mph to 60 mph, said Dayton police Sgt. Jeffrey Thomas, who noted that the speed limit along U.S. 35 is 50 mph.

Police cited her for failure to control a motor vehicle, he said.

The second accident occurred a few yards away, just moments after the first. That one involved a van, sport utility vehicle and a pickup truck, Thomas said. A woman who was driving the van and a man who was driving the SUV were taken to a local hospital. Their injuries were determined not to be life threatening, Thomas said. A man who was driving the pickup truck was not injured, the sergeant said.

Officers were working on the crash report late Friday, Thomas said, but they are leaning toward driver inattention as the cause of the second crash.

“Someone cut over at the last second, and a chain reaction occurred,” Thomas said.

The ages and residences of those involved in the second crash were not available, he said.

Traffic in the area of both wrecks was slowed, but continued to flow as best it could during the evening commute. Traffic was flowing without obstruction or delay by 6:53 p.m., according to a check of the Buckeye Traffic webcam system maintained by the Ohio Department of Transportation.