A pedestrian was struck and killed in a hit-and-run crash early on the morning of Sunday, September 9.
The crash took place at the intersection of 81st Street and Troost Avenue. Around 2:45 a.m., police received a call about a woman who was found unconscious in the street. When authorities arrived, the victim was rushed to a local hospital, but died a short time later.
As of this press release, the identity of the woman has not been released.
“First of all, we wish to extend our sincere condolences to the family of the victim,” noted Eric Rogers, executive director for BikeWalkKC. “This didn’t need to happen and we hope that the person or people responsible are identified and brought to justice.”
“This section of Troost has seen a considerable amount of construction as of late, but it doesn’t appear that sufficient consideration has been given to how pedestrians should be protected,” said Eric Bunch, BikeWalkKC’s policy director. “As much as we want to catch the people who left this woman for dead, we also need to use this as an opportunity to look for ways to make the built environment safer for pedestrians.”
Sunday’s hit-and-run marks the third hit-and-run since August 20. In all of those cases, no arrests have been made to date.
As BikeWalkKC has stated in the past, what deserves the brunt of the blame for these crashes is the culture that values car traffic efficiency over the safety of human lives.
For more information, contact Karen Campbell, director of development and communications, at (816) 205-7056 (ext. 2) or by email at karen.campbell@bikewalkkc.org.
Police have not released a description of the vehicle involved at this time. If you have any information about the crash, please call the TIPS hotline at (816) 474-8477.
BikeWalkKC believes that crashes are not accidents and clothing is not an excuse.