A young cyclist was struck by a driver in Fairway late in the afternoon on Tuesday, October 8.
The crash happened near the intersection of Reinhardt and Howe drives shortly after 5 p.m. The child, whose name is Carter, was taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital.
The crash has caused a severe traumatic brain injury, and it appears that Carter will be looking at lifelong effects from the trauma. To help pay for medical and other necessary expenses, a Gofundme page has been set up.
“We’re relieved that Carter wasn’t killed, but that shouldn’t ignore the fact that the injuries he sustained are severe,” said Eric Rogers, executive director for BikeWalkKC. “He and his family face a long road to recovery, and we hope that people will donate if they can.”
“As jarring as the details of Carter’s injuries are, we hope it will spur people to action,” noted BikeWalkKC policy manager Michael Kelley. “If there are changes that can be made to make the streets of Fairway safer, we should use this crash as motivation to bring those changes to fruition.”
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.