Nearly a year after 10-year-old Duke Ommert was killed while crossing Lee Boulevard on an e-scooter, and days after another child on a scooter was hospitalized near a Leawood school, the city wants residents to weigh in on how to make its streets safer.
Leawood will host a Safe Streets Open House on Sept. 1 at City Hall beginning at 5 p.m. Residents can review crash data, examine maps of the city's most dangerous corridors and speak directly with the project team about problem areas, according to KCTV5.
The federally funded initiative was already underway before the latest crash. It is paid for through a Safe Streets and Roads for All grant, part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and covers every street in the city. Its stated goal: reduce traffic crashes and eliminate serious injuries and fatalities on Leawood roads.
"We will be addressing more, safer rules for the electric vehicles, because it is a problem," Ward 1 Councilmember Alan Sunkel told KSHB 41 on Aug. 17. "It's a problem for the riders; it's a problem for the drivers."
Two crashes, one year
On Aug. 17, a 13-year-old boy riding a motorized scooter to school was struck by an SUV near 143rd Street and Mission Road. The driver was turning left into a school entrance as the boy traveled westbound on the sidewalk. The boy was wearing a helmet and was alert when officers arrived, according to the Johnson County Post. He was released from the hospital by Tuesday, Aug. 18, and is recovering at home.
Two crossing guards are stationed at the campus, but none was posted at the specific parking lot entrance where the crash occurred, Leawood police confirmed.
The Aug. 17 crash came less than a year after Duke Ommert, a fourth-grader at Brookwood Elementary, was struck while crossing Lee Boulevard mid-block near 103rd Street on Oct. 13, 2025. Duke suffered a severe head injury and a fractured leg and later died at the hospital. Police determined the driver's actions were not a contributing factor.
After Duke's death, the city lowered the speed limit on that stretch of Lee Boulevard from 35 mph to 30 mph. In February, the City Council approved a helmet ordinance for young riders on motorized scooters, though sources differ on whether the age threshold is 16 or 18.
What the city is doing now
On the city's Leawood 360 podcast on Aug. 13, Police Sgt. Matthew Schroeder said officers are encountering young riders unfamiliar with basic traffic rules, including stopping at stop signs and riding with the flow of traffic.
City Engineer Brian Scovill described the Safe Streets initiative on the same episode as a comprehensive safety action plan to identify and prioritize improvements for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.
Leawood Police Capt. Jason Ahring, in a department statement on Aug. 18, urged motorists, pedestrians and students to use extra caution in school zones as classes resume.
Residents who cannot attend the Sept. 1 open house can find crash data and submit feedback at leawood.org/safestreets.
