A woman was struck and killed in Overland Park just after midnight on May 2.
The crash occurred on US 69 Highway, just south of W. 95th Street. The victim, Karla Ramirez of Kansas City, Kansas, had just exited a car that had lost control traveling northbound and had struck the median. As she did this, she was struck by the driver of another vehicle traveling north and ended up in the southbound lanes.
She was taken to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
“We want to extend our condolences to the family of Karla Ramirez,” said Eric Rogers, executive director of BikeWalkKC. “It’s incredibly unfortunate to see someone survive a car crash, only to be killed moments later as a pedestrian.”
“This tragedy only adds to the alarming number of crashes we’ve seen injure and kill pedestrians throughout the metro in 2019,” added Eric Bunch, the policy director for the organization. “We really need to ask ourselves how much is too much before we enact the changes we know can save lives?”
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.
BikeWalkKC believes that crashes are not accidents and clothing is not an excuse.