SALINE COUNTY, Kan. (KWCH/Gray News) — A Norwegian man attempting to rollerblade across the U.S. was killed in a hit-and-run in Kansas, officials said.
The Saline County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as 24-year-old Joachim Lanham.
Lanham was documenting his rollerblading journey across the U.S. on Instagram. According to a post from his family, he was hit by an SUV on day 22 of his journey from New York to Los Angeles
An 82-year-old female said she had been driving a 2013 Ford Edge SUV going west on Country Club Road. She stated that she thought she hit something, turned around to check the area, but didn’t see anything, so she continued her journey home.
For some reason its normal this lady can drive. Yep, sure thing, we’d help you open a door for worry of your frailty but you can totally chuck an 8 ton hunk of metal down the road.
And if you suggest we should add public transit so that 82 year olds have a reasonable option other than driving, everyone acts like you’re ableist as if people whose disabilities make driving more dangerous don’t exist at all.
We allow it for the very fact that without a vehicle an 80 year old person is essentially being given a death sentence in most cities in our country.
I am all for requirements of driver’s license test be met past a certain age. But, we need to acknowledge that it’s not just that. Seniors need alternative methods of transportation. They are driving because that’s all they can do.
Whether this is basic public transportation or major expansion of senior specific door to door transport systems. We can’t just “ban them”. Because then the problem will just be a bunch of seniors just driving without a license or dying alone in their home because they didn’t get their medication that day.
“An 82-year-old female said she had been driving a 2013 Ford Edge SUV going west on Country Club Road. She stated that she thought she hit something, turned around to check the area, but didn’t see anything, so she continued her journey home.”
Well at least she was nice and safe in her rolling fortress.
82-year-old
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
I’ve read horror stories told by acquaintances from Japan about old people there driving and usually finding themselves crashing into things, crashing into cars, cyclists, pedestrians, or worse. There’s been talk among Japanese about setting limits to drivers older than 60 or 70.
And thank god we don’t ever test people again after giving them access to killing machines
The thing about cars is that they are a lethal weapon INSIDE AND OUTSIDE. .
So obviously outside you have this mostly iron thing that weighs over a tonne or more and it can easily reach speeds of over 250 km/hr if the deranged driver wants it to…
But If someone alters their car so that you cant get outside once theyve locked you inside… You better hope that theyve put you in the trunk cause thats the only place with the emergency opening. Also whst if theu alter the trunk to make it so that only they can open it?..
Also I was reading this one comment from a police shooting a couple yesrs ago aand it changed how I see the lethality of cars from the inside. And it basically said: “The main perpetrator was shot and killed by police but a person who was kidnapped inside the car were ALSO shot and killed by those police officers. But something that the news story conveniently omits about the officers’ response is that the car was travelling at insane speeds for most of the chase …So how could the kidnapped people inside the car escape if they couldnt jump out? They didnt deserve to also be shot as they had no route out of the car.”
Calling a Ford Edge a “rolling fortress” is a bit of a stretch
most modern SUVs are. particularly compared to any bike.
It sure feels like it when it’s wooshing past you at highway speed on a bicycle.
Calling it a pollution powered people crusher is a pretty accurate assessment tho.
82 YEAR OLD? I think my grandpa died at around that age, they’re letting this person drive?
It’s Kansas. If she can’t drive she literally cannot leave her home…
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Tennessee city of 40k here. No taxi service for the last decade, and no uber drivers unless you get really lucky.
There’s a city van that will take elderly people around town. It requires three business days notice, the pickup time is an hour window, shopping trips are limited to three bags, and it’s not free.
in rural areas it’s pretty hard, but some small towns have basically on demand dial a ride type of services for the elderly, but still people really resist losing their freedom on that.
At least she turned herself in. I’m not sure I would’ve had enough courage and selfrespect to do that.
I hope she feels like shit and sees consequences for making a half-assed attempt at identifying what she hit. She could at least get out of the vehicle ffs. He might have been able to be saved.
Slim chances of her seeing real consequences. The easiest way to get away with murder in the US is to do it with a car.
You are saying the planned to run him over. How do you back that up?
I agree that she made a terrible mistake. She should have to pay restitution to the family, get jail time and probably never drive again. But murder is a whole different thing. You might as well charge her with genocide.
The person you replied to made 2 true and disconnected statements.
One was that she’s unlikely to face consequences.
The other was that the easiest way to get away with murder is to do it with a car.
They never said she killed that man intentionally. They said she’s unlikely to face consequences. This can be verified by knowing how little punishment people receive in the US for hitting people with cars AND knowing how little punishment happens when someone who’s a senior citizen does it. Here’s an article about an elderly women who killed a family of 4 and got probation for example (Honestly an infuriatingly depressing read).
The second statement is about how killing someone with a car basically means (at least in the US) you’re likely to face very little consequence vs a murder charge.
I hate everything about this story, fuck car culture so much
Ofc its a fucking hit and run too like what the fuck. We remember people out here being like “ban cars? You don’t mean outright right? Haha” no we mean it, we hate cars, ban them we hate them so fucking much dude. Yeah there’s a time or place for them but there needs to be proper safe routes for pedestrians and bikers and cars need to be straight up banned in certain areas.
Ps: all our thoughts and care to the family, really sorry for your son. He was doing what he loved.
Yeah it takes a legend to go on an adventure like that.
Vila i frid broder.
Cars need to be considered second class transport on the road, especially in urban areas.
Part of the reason surface transit sucks so much here in Toronto is that for some retarded reason they make it so LRTs have to wait for cars to pass at intersections, where it slows them down so much people can reach their destination quicker if they run.
Yeah in reality, pedestrians > bike’s/other small personal riders > public transit > small commercial riders (think mail couriers/small delivery) > mopeds/bikes (with heavily enforced legal noise and pollution limits) > cars (with heavily enforced noise and pollution limits) and most if not all residential streets: cars are not allowed or are maxed at 10km/h.
But in our heart, no cars at all thanks 💖 bring us trams, trains bikes and walking parks babyyyy
A train or a bus transports way more people than walking or biking and has less ability to stop.
Train>bus>commercial trucks>bicycles>ebikes>pedestrians> motorcycles>LSVs>>>>cars
Ah mb got the pedestrian mixed up, though bikes should watch out for pedestrians in mid use and pedestrians should watch out for bikes in mix lanes/bike lanes. Though commercial trucks should be in same place as normal cars imo (but sowed in mixed use areas only at certain times like early morning/night)
Trucks have less ability to stop and emit a ton of pollution when they need to accelerate again, its in everyone’s best interest that they are not obstructed.
True, but big trucks don’t need to be in city centers or in areas that are pedestrianized in the first place. They should be completely separate specifically for that reason yeah?
Are fewer commercial vehicles that only enter pedestrianized areas at low times good? Sure. But that may not be realistic, depending on the size and logistical needs of the pedestrianized zone. When there are commercial trucks in the city, they need priority so they can get out as unobtrusivly as possible.
“An 82-year-old female said she had been driving a 2013 Ford Edge SUV going west on Country Club Road. She stated that she thought she hit something, turned around to check the area, but didn’t see anything, so she continued her journey home.”
As someone that once accidentally hit a cat whilst driving an SUV, I cannot fathom how anyone could hit anything as large a human and be unsure if something was struck.
Seems like you are lacking experience in driving while being high as a kite.
Old people lie like anyone else.
A decade ago, my mother who must have been in her 50s showed up at home with a traffic cone lodged in her rear driverside wheelwell, having no idea it was there.
I think the key words are “82-year-old”
I’m not nearly that old, but I can extrapolate my own experiences from 16 to now and out to her age, and I can buy it.
Understandable, and I accept everyone’s situation and capabilities are different. I’m nearly in my sixties, so I’m closer to her age, but I’d seriously reevaluate the wisdom of driving if my faculties were that degraded.
Home girl probably has presbyopia so real she just rolls up on Mr. Magoo and mic drops. Couple this with people constantly being distracted while driving, age related cognitive decline, along with age related muscle/coordination loss, and I can absolutely fathom it.
Play stupid games. Win stupid prizes. Atleast he won’t pass on his stupid genes.
Stupid comment by a stupid loser.
Atleast he won’t pass on his stupid genes.
we can only hope the same for you, too.
Typical American, refuses to blame infrastructure even when it’s killing people. Instead it’s stupid to try and exist outside without a car.
Had nothing at all to do with an 82 year old driving an SUV. Nope, blame the guy doing a version of what many people have done successfully.
We let 82 year olds drive
We force them to drive. So long as we have a car-dependent infrastructure and few if any affordable alternatives, you’re advocating for elderly people to require family or money to be able to navigate the world around them, which is not really a great stance to take.
That does not require this situation to be the case of required driving, but a rule which prohibits elderly people from driving means that we have to anticipate how it will effect people that could not get around otherwise; disabled people deal with this all the time, and they’re pretty much abandoned.
It’s sad, but yeah they and their families need to suffer the consequences of car centric hell, taking away the licenses of people too old to notice they killed someone, and start taking meaningful action to remedy this situation. Unfortunately no one will change a thing of they don’t face consequences.
I think it is a very Lemmy response to say, “well yeah, but it’s more reasonable to punish innocent people who have few or no options so that people feel bad enough to fix things.”
As I said, disabled people are still often disqualified from driving, there are physical requirements for driving that disqualifies many elderly people. Guess what happens to people who don’t have family to support them.
You’re from Canada? This is from thirteen fucking years ago: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/for-seniors-losing-driver-s-licence-like-having-arm-cut-off-1.1346585
Is it fixed?
Oh, and before you act like that isn’t relevant: https://www.kslegislature.gov/li_2024/b2023_24/statute/008_000_0000_chapter/008_002_0000_article/008_002_0047_section/008_002_0047_k/
“The one who is always the most surprised is the one whose needs were met.”
I think you’re strawmanning a bit with that “punishment talk” and treating things like they are mutually exclusive when they are not.
I literally just read an old lady (article about upcoming municipal elections) commenting that the city went too far with bike lanes and bus stops. Society keeps catering to old people drivers, who in turn vote against better alternatives; fucking/running us all over.
Sure, could you explain how you read, “Unfortunately no one will change a thing of [sic] they don’t face consequences,” in response to “we should be considerate of the material needs of people before we ban them from driving,” as anything other than a punishment?
I also like, don’t care about what an old lady in your city said…? That doesnt change the fact that there’s a 100% chance that a ban on elderly drivers would lead to deaths and hardship of innocent people in a system that abandons them otherwise and requires access to a car to even exist in? Are you seriously suggesting that it is reasonable to do that to make sure these nasty ladies don’t drive?
Canadians are so brutal dude.
We have restricted licences in Australia, where through their GP reporting changes in circumstances or failure to pass an aged driving tests they can have a limited radius / areas they are allowed to drive (say supermarket, close relatives, gp, activities).
It does put a bit of a rock and a hard place for some folks, but it’s a much better option than having no licence.
The fitness to drive test scheme is well executed, is not required to be held at a service centre (via trained 3rd parties) and let’s most maintain their mobility.
In the US, they have golf carts, some communities plan for them, even giving thrm special roads, but they’re often banned on higher speed roads, which you need to get anywhere. Here in vietnam, 82 year olds mostly ride 49cc scooters.
We let humans drive a mass greater than they could physically keep from rolling down a slight incline at speeds faster than they can see, around other vulnerable human beings, just because they want to. No need to bring ageism into this. That’s just a way of assuring yourself you are a safe driver, that this couldn’t happen to you. You’re not and it could. No one is a safe driver.
Maybe if we had decent public transport, we could take away elderly licenses without restricting their freedom.
I drive through Saline county regularly. A decent chunk of their tax revenue comes from erroneous traffic tickets. I don’t think Salina has A bus, not to mention about 10% of the population is rural, as it sounds like this woman was.
I spend a fair bit of time in 'Murica
There is an entertainment area about a twenty minute walk away from where I stay
I’d happily walk it, but it’s genuinely unwise to do so, so I end up taking ubers
It’s something that I find disappointing
Guess they picked the wrong country to rollerblade in /s
As someone who travels on two wheels in the US all the time, they kinda did.
‘kinda did’ in one of thr most car-centric countries on the planet?
Or even visit
When you keep playing the odds
The amount of misplaced courage thst a person from the ages of 16-30 has would shock even the gods themselves.
Poor kid though. R.I.P. he picked the super wrong country to attempt this in.
I saw a video of a skateboarder who skates across the states the other day and all I could think is how surprised I was that he didn’t get hit/killed. Though in his montage he did get clipped
There was a Spanish actor who biked from Spain to Rome as part of some doc and he got hit pretty badly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvojIfdmSR8
In France, obviously.
Murica
He wasn’t shot, so that’s a nice change. /s
Oof, why did I laugh at this? 'Tis America, I guess?
What a pure-hearted dream, crushed by the worst country in the world. Of course it would happen in Kansas.
Forest Gump was a lie :/
I wouldn’t walk, roller blade, or ride a two wheel vehicle of any sort on a public road here. People will hit a parked car and say it came out of no where. We’ll give anyone a license and in some cases without a driving test.
