Plywood covers a house in the 2000 block of East 23rd Street Terrace after a man in a pickup truck lost control on Kansas Highway 10 and drove through the house. Neither the driver nor person who was home was injured; however the house was badly damaged and deemed uninhabitable.
A driver on Kansas Highway 10 on Saturday lost control of his pickup truck and drove through the back of a house in the 2000 block of East 23rd Terrace.
About noon Saturday, the driver was heading westbound on K-10 approaching Lawrence when he lost control of his vehicle, crossed the median of K-10 and the eastbound lanes, and crashed through a fence and into the kitchen area of the house, said Lawrence Police Sgt. Kirk Fultz. There were no injuries reported in the incident; however, the house, at 2014 E. 23rd Terrace, was badly damaged. The structure was deemed uninhabitable and the fire department braced the house as a precaution before the truck was removed and towed away.
No drugs or alcohol were involved in the incident, and no arrests were made, according to a police report.
Comments
buckjennings 3 months, 1 week ago
I can hear it now: "It was only an accident." In a reality-based world an individual like this should lose his license. Also, in a reality-based world, we wouldn't be required to drive everywhere for everything in order to avoid second-class citizenship.
MacHeath 3 months, 1 week ago
In a "reality-based" world, people would only speak if they knew what they were talking about. Wait..that is totally wrong. This is reality, and in the real world there are people that always have an opinion without knowing what they are talking about.
buckjennings 3 months, 1 week ago
In other words, you're like everyone else--- you don't really want to assign blame because, gee, one day you might have a spasm and drive into someone's house and sure don't want to be in trouble.
50YearResident 3 months, 1 week ago
That is extensive damage for it to happen in a 45 MPH zone, don't you think. Using the brakes might have avoided this.
OonlyBonly 3 months, 1 week ago
Or shutting off the vehicle's engine.
OldEnuf2BYurDad 3 months, 1 week ago
It had snowed. He would have slid on the lawn with the mushy soil and all.
buckjennings 3 months, 1 week ago
That is no excuse. If it snowed, driving slower is the prudent thing to do. But I guess that's just too much to ask.
OldEnuf2BYurDad 3 months, 1 week ago
The roads were clear by noon. The grass would have been slick.
You are a judgmental person.
grammaddy 3 months, 1 week ago
The truck could have had a mechanical failure of some kind causing him to lose control. Stop placing blame. Be thankful no one was hurt.
superswagg56 3 months, 1 week ago
If he turns off the Engine how in the HE77 was he supposed to steer?
buckjennings 3 months, 1 week ago
You don't need power steering to steer, especially when you're at speed.
OldEnuf2BYurDad 3 months, 1 week ago
In many vehicles, putting the key in the off position locks the steering wheel. Some people from Kansas were killed on Pike's Peak some years back when their brakes began to fail and the inexperienced driver tried to stop the car by turning off the engine. No one survived.
buckjennings 3 months, 1 week ago
What vehicles? Every car I've ever driven has separate off and lock positions. My daily driver even has a button you must push in order to go from "off" to "lock."
buckjennings 3 months, 1 week ago
Perhaps the operator ought to bear some responsibility for the state of his vehicle? Or is that asking too much?
Jayhawk_4_Life 3 months, 1 week ago
.
myownme 3 months, 1 week ago
We drove by this as the vehicle had been loaded onto the tow truck... it was a newer model dodge truck. I'm not sure of the cause of the ACCIDENT, but I do know one thing for sure. .. we do not live in an ACCIDENT free world! Unless you live in a fantasy bubble, ACCIDENTS happen.
buckjennings 3 months, 1 week ago
Yup. It was "only an accident." I knew it wouldn't be long. The bottom line is that someone can't go home tonight because their house is "uninhabitable" because someone who probably shouldn't be driving cross the median, two lanes of traffic, a fairly wide right-of-way and went through a fence and into someone's kitchen. Qualifying this is some little boo-boo is disingenuous to the extreme.
bearded_gnome 3 months, 1 week ago
the real problem in this thread is that one poster is intensely antivehicle, and uses any topic as an opportunity to twist to his warped agenda. he actually believes the scam of global warming, and thinks that people shouldn't drive cars at all. given his way, we'd all live in a third world existence.
buckjennings 3 months, 1 week ago
The problem here is that people like you have a hard time being critical of incompetent motorists because you fear you'll wind up in a situation like this yourself one day and don't want to be judged too harshly. Nice red-herring though about climate change-- like most people in this country who were never taught to actually think (thanks to the failure of our education system) you look to whatever alpha-males make you feel better about things. Is Faux "News" where you seek this enlightenment or are you more of a Lush Rimbaugh kind of guy? I know it was one of those places where you learned that car ownership = first world living. Funny how the nicest places in the world often, if not always, are the ones where you can live without a car and still live well.
bearded_gnome 3 months, 1 week ago
twice in just a few months, houses in southeast lawrence have had cars driven into them, once intentionally and this by apparent accident/equipment failure.
if I were a SE lawrence house, I'd be getting worried about now.
buckjennings 3 months, 1 week ago
It was just an accident. Perhaps one day we'll have a place on our license that can be punched to allow for several fatalities/serious collisions (also known here on this forum as "boo-boos") before anything serious happens to the motorist.
Frankie8 3 months ago
Good one gnome! I wish we had emoticons on here.
Ron Holzwarth 3 months ago
You can plant trees, which take a while to grow, or you can have boulders placed in your yard, which is very expensive, about $75,000 each for a good sized one.
Trees will eventually take care of the problem, and boulders will solve it immediately, if you have the money. It's done quite often in high risk areas in California.
Ron Holzwarth 3 months ago
"Just so fluffy" and "That poster," huh? Hmmm, wonder what that means. I use my real name, and I was serious, boulders are placed in California by those who can afford to do it if there is a risk involved. But, they are protecting homes valued at $750,000 and up, usually. And, you know me personally, in case you've forgotten. But that's OK, several of the posters do.
Ron Holzwarth 3 months ago
Gotcha! It did seem a bit out of character! See ya!
kusp8 3 months, 1 week ago
There's got to more to this story.
overthemoon 3 months, 1 week ago
Perhaps the driver had a medical problem. I saw an incident like this once on k10---nothing was hit and no one was hurt when the truck suddenly went out of control, crossed the median, slipped by oncoming traffic, crashed thru the fence and ended up well into the field. The cause was the driver had an epileptic blackout.
OldEnuf2BYurDad 3 months, 1 week ago
Buckjennings rejects all excuses. If he had a seizure, then he should have had one in such a way that he could maintain control of his truck!!
overthemoon 3 months, 1 week ago
But another crazy headline. Vehicles don't lose control.
Cappy 3 months, 1 week ago
Can't wait for when fate catches up with BJ and he's all "But...but...but". Yes, you should be careful and deliberate. You should maintain your vehicle and drive defensively. But, despite one's best efforts and intentions, the plain fact is sometimes POOP happens.
jafs 3 months ago
Of course that's true.
But it's also true that the vast majority of these kinds of accidents are preventable, and caused by stupid or negligent acts on the part of the driver - at least the ones I read about in this paper almost daily.
jhawkinsf 3 months, 1 week ago
Maybe the house jumped out in front of the truck, making the house at fault. I'm surprised no one has yet suggested that obvious answer.
jafs 3 months ago
:-)
mom_of_three 3 months, 1 week ago
very lucky he didn't hit anyone while crossing the eastbound lanes. It could have been much worse. Yes, he could have had medical problems, but you would have thought they would have mentioned it, because medical problems might need an ambulance, especially after you hit a house.
buckjennings 3 months ago
All of the comments above prove the point I've been trying to make, yet in our car-centric society where no one is actually taught to think critically, it's flown over the heads of most of the people here.
One point worth making that I find interesting is how when a pedestrian is run over after attempting to cross 23rd St in an ill-advised place, the general consensus here from the peanut gallery is that she had it coming. "Darn it, she broke the law!" "She should have known better!" Yet when someone has a boo-boo like this then everyone is quick to rush to his defense. "Gosh, these things can happen to anyone!" Amazing how the standards for pedestrians appears to be much higher than that for those operating a large vehicle.
mom_of_three 3 months ago
I dont think I excused his actions at all. And no one said the woman who crossed 23rd street had it coming. But some of us agreed that she did break the law by crossing into traffic, and that cars and only do so much when someone walks out in front of them, especially if a bus is involved.
merrill 3 months ago
Was this vehicle traveling at 151 mph?
jellybeanies 3 months ago
It doesn't really matter if it was an "accident" or not. The driver is liable. This is a simple principle that I teach my kids. Intent doesn't always matter. If you bring harm to someone or their property, you should have to face the consequences.
cheeseburger 3 months ago
A good principle to be sure, but sadly in this county, seldom are there meaningful consequences brought to those who harm others or their property.
Armored_One 3 months ago
No, I don't know exactly what happened. Point of fact, No One on this forum knows, although apparently buckjennings is omniscient and knows exactly what happened.
Since I see no pictures of the vehicle itself, although I admit I am not overly interested in hunting for them, could it be that his tire popped, which would make it difficult to control?
Could it be that he was texting and simply lost control and panicked?
Could it be that no one knows what was going on and we will likely hear more about it in a future article, given the history of the JW returning to a story at a later date with a more complete picture of what happened?
I am glad, however, that we have people like buckjennings in our neck of the woods. With his lightening reflexes and infailable ability to control every situation with the utmost finesse, we won't have to worry about him having an accident. However, since buck apparently doesn't suffer from accidents, everything that does happen in his/her life MUST be deliberate.
Bu, as I said, I'll just wait for more information to be presented before deciding if this was just one of those excrement occurs moments or if it was a fine example of rampaging stupidity having consequences for more than the fool that caused the issue. I do, however, have a great deal of sympathy for the family that was displaced by this, regardless of the cause.
forealzies 3 months ago
Don't worry Buck, the driver will get blamed (and should) by the home owners insurance company. This is what insurance is for (if the driver has it!), and his/her premium will probably increase. Accidents do happen. That is reality. I've caused a crash, and have been crashed by others fault. You seem super-duper passionate about this. I can't make judgement about the driver yet as I don't know all the details.....
Ron Holzwarth 3 months ago
Do you seriously believe that a home can be built (at a reasonable cost) that can be driven into by a full sized truck and still be habitable?
If that's the case, tornado shelters won't be necessary.
Ron Holzwarth 3 months ago
Become an architect, you're onto some new ideas that are far beyond cutting edge.
bearded_gnome 3 months ago
^^Ron Holzwarth 3 hours, 48 minutes ago
You can plant trees, which take a while to grow, or you can have boulders placed in your yard, which is very expensive, about $75,000 each for a good sized one.
---Ron, I kne about this, much more than CA doing this. but you serious??? $75K???
that's a lot of money for one big rock!
Ron Holzwarth 3 months ago
Yes, I am serious, and I was very surprised at the price myself. They often use monstrous sized boulders, maybe 20 - 25 feet across. Here in Kansas, they would be much more expensive, because they would probably have to be trucked in from hundred of miles away, since we don't have a local source for boulders of that size. I suppose Colorado would be the place to bring them from, and an overloaded semi with an escort front and rear for that distance would be very expensive. The best bet here would be a "fake boulder" poured on site made of colored concrete.
They are delivered by overloaded semi, one that is say, 15 feet across would be much cheaper. A larger one is a status symbol, and in California, that's what it's all about - status. That, and stopping cars that leave the roadway around a curve.
Needless to say, that is something for only the very rich.
The reason I heard about the prices to such an exacting level was that my sister and her husband had a swimming pool renovated in their back yard, and they wanted boulders, as at least one of their friends had done, for something like $75,000. It was a decoration for the swimming pool, not for protection from automobiles, which was not necessary for their home. It was very nice, I especially liked the "fake beach".
But they wanted a few smaller ones. But after getting bids, they realized that the cost was way out of line, so they went for "fake boulders", which stained and eroded very quickly, much to their disappointment. Later, they wished they had a few real boulders trucked in, but today it doesn't matter, because they don't live there anymore anyway.
CHEEZIT 3 months ago
Is that why Fritzel has them in front of his house?
bearded_gnome 3 months ago
and Thuja, I'm far from the only poster here expressing frustration about BJ on this thread, just I brought in some of his topics from other previous annoying threads. remember, we don't live in a buble, and one day follows another. now, try to calm down and take another breath. you'll be allright.
jay0407 3 months ago
You guys all have ideas of what to do in this accident but I am sure in a moment of crossing the median of a highway you would shut or engine off while going into oncoming traffic! Some people... Just never gets old
LA_Ex 3 months ago
If you can't figure out how to properly operate a vehicle even in an emergency, you shouldn't be driving. It is YOUR responsibility to know your limits and how to operate YOUR vehicle safely. Driving is a privilege and not a right. Then again, these are things that I feel should be taught to ALL new drivers. If we had proper driver's education and training in the country, we wouldn't have so many idiot drivers.
Ron Holzwarth 3 months ago
I tend to think I would attempt to twist the steering wheel to stay in my lane, like the time one of my tires suddenly blew out. The car suddenly fell a bit, and suddenly changed direction. All it took to correct the situation was a quick turn to stay in my lane, and DO NOT slam on the brakes, instead slow gently, then pull onto the shoulder of the Interstate and change the tire.
It was no big deal, and I was sure glad I was the one driving the car.
dhardee1 3 months ago
Hello, I'm the owner of the house so I thought I would weigh in. The driver did not have a mechanical failure and did not have a seizure or other medical problem. The vague excuse he gave was "I lost control of my vehicle." I will let the police decide if this is a reasonable excuse while driving in a straight line with a posted speed limit of 45 mph on roads that were in good condition. (I drove on them and they were in fine condition by the end of the morning.) I'm trying not to be bitter, but the more I think about it the less it makes sense to me.
Anyways, my point is people have accidents on K-10 all the time for a variety of reasons. I am planning on soon organizing a petition to request trees planted or at least a wire barrier put on the side of K-10 to protect the homes and businesses that are alongside it. I will post again on this thread when I start this process and would appreciate help in this since it seems that a lot of people feel strongly about the situation like I do. Thanks everyone.
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