A pedestrian was killed in a crash on the evening of Wednesday, January 1.
The crash occurred on the 11200 block of Nieman Road in Overland Park around 7:30 pm. Details are limited, but it appears that the victim was struck by two different drivers. The victim was identified as 45-year-old Agri M. Aytar of Overland Park. Both drivers stopped after the crash occurred.
“We want to extend our condolences to the family of Mr. Aytar,” said Eric Rogers, executive director for BikeWalkKC. “It is frightening, but not surprising, that 2020 is already off to a deadly start for the vulnerable road users in our region.”
“Overland Park has taken some steps to make its streets safer for everyone, but the unfortunate truth is that it is not enough,” noted Michael Kelley, policy manager for BikeWalkKC. “We encourage city officials to look for more opportunities to improve the built environment and prevent these crashes from happening in the future.”
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. This appears to be the first deadly crash in the KCMO region involving a vulnerable road user.
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.