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The Kansas Department of Transportation and the City of Basehor announced a joint speed reduction initiative Wednesday after a 16-year-old driver died in a crash along U.S. Highway 24 on Tuesday.
“I am heartsick,” said Tammy Wilson Potts, a longtime Basehor resident. “I’m heartsick for the family, but I'm also heartsick for the community.”
16-year-old Cody Lamping died Tuesday night after driving south along 155th Street and running a red light at the intersection at U.S. 24 Highway, or State Avenue.
That’s when a pickup truck traveling the 65-mile-per-hour speed limit hit him.
He later died at the hospital.
“We've lost at least four at back-to-back locations here along State Avenue,” Potts said.
Potts is referring to four other fatalities that have happened within the last few years at various intersections along State Avenue, a number of those involving high school-aged students.
You can see memorial crosses along the highway in honor of these lives.
The overgrown grass is a testament to how long they’ve been around.
“We've actually been trying to get the speed limit lowered for 17 years,” Basehor mayor Dick Drennon told me back in January when the city launched a petition to get the speed limit reduced along U.S. 24 Highway.
“I was really grateful that our city came up with the petition,” Potts said. “It is one that people have been signing.”
Potts says she knows of at least 20 more signatures added Wednesday morning.
“I think that our community has a wonderful outlook on protecting our children and keeping them safe,” Potts said. “And ultimately, that’s the bottom line.”
Drennon told me back in January that he and his wife were in a wreck at the 155th and State intersection in October 2024.
January was the city’s second time asking KDOT to reduce the speed limit along U.S. 24 Highway.
Drennon cited a July 2024 KDOT report saying, “the chance of death or serious injury doubles for every 10 mph over 50 mph a vehicle travels, and speeding is a factor in almost one-third of all traffic fatalities nationwide.”
KDOT conducted a study in June 2024 along the stretch of highway from 142nd Street to 171st Street and determined that the existing speed limit was appropriate for the roadway and roadway context, which would therefore not grant the city’s desired 50-mile-per-hour speed limit.
“The speed should be dropped dramatically, in my opinion, and I think the city's been very reasonable asking for that conversation to happen,” Potts said.
Since January, the conversation between the city and KDOT has continued.
According to a KDOT spokesperson, KDOT leadership met with City officials and legislators in April to discuss lowering the speed limit.
A part of KDOT and the city’s ‘active partnership’ is the speed reduction pilot, which “is designed to enhance safety through various interventions, including signal timing adjustments, the implementation of speed feedback signs, and a reduction of the speed limit from 65 MPH to 55 MPH. We anticipate launching this pilot in late summer of this year. KDOT also reminds motorists to follow all traffic laws and speed limits, always buckle up, and to always be aware of surroundings,” a KDOT spokesperson wrote via email.
At the beginning of the email, he wrote, "The loss of life in this crash is tragic, and KDOT shares our condolences."
The City of Basehor also shared a statement Wednesday: “The City of Basehor wishes to extend its heartfelt and deepest sympathy to the families affected by this horrific tragedy. The City will continue to advocate on behalf of its community and work collaboratively with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) for a speed reduction and other safety countermeasures on US 24/40 (State Avenue).”
The Basehor-Linwood School District also offered its condolences Wednesday:
“We are truly saddened to learn about the passing of one of our BLHS students, Cody Lamping. The loss of a student impacts our entire school community, and although our buildings are closed for the summer, counseling services are available if staff or students would like to speak with someone. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Cody’s family, classmates, friends, and teachers.”
Potts says she’s elated to see progress and would love to see statistics a year from now after the pilot goes into effect.
“It's sad that you have to have any fatality to change something like this, but I'm grateful for the press release you just read, that’s huge, and we’ll take it,” Potts said.
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