Sadly we have to add another name to the list of local bicyclist fatalities. The Star reports that 18 year-old Najeeba Hassan Jan of Overland Park has died from injuries sustained in an August 5th collision at 95th and Moody Park Drive.
Najeeba was from an Afghan refugee family and was just now learning to ride a bike. Some TV reports indicated that she might have failed to stop at a stop sign, and there are no indications the motorist was at fault.
KC Star: Bicyclist injured in collision with trash truck dies
By LYNN HORSLEY
The Kansas City Star
August 14th, 2010An 18-year-old Overland Park bicyclist who was severely injured this month in a collision with a trash truck has died, her family confirmed Saturday.
Najeeba Hassan Jan died Wednesday from injuries she suffered Aug. 5. A graveside service was held Thursday at Mount Moriah Cemetery.
It was one more tragedy for an Afghan refugee family that already had experienced more than its share of heartache, according to family friend and spokesman Reza Hashemi.
One of Hassan Jan’s brothers was killed by a land mine in Afghanistan. Her father, a farmer, also was killed in war-torn Afghanistan, Hashemi said.
Hassan Jan moved with her mother, three sisters and two brothers to Pakistan in the late 1990s and then to the Kansas City area in 2002. They lived in Wyandotte County before moving to Overland Park in January 2008.
Life had been good for the family in the U.S., and Hassan Jan was looking forward to the future, said her sister, Latifa Hassan Jan. “There was so much she wanted to do,” she said.
Her sister said Hassan Jan finished classes at Shawnee Mission West High School in May 2009 but needed to complete one more half-credit of coursework. She hoped to be a journalist or a nurse.
Latifa Hassan Jan said her sister was hopeful of getting an interview soon at a nursing home. She said she also had just been learning to ride a bike before the accident.
Police said Hassan Jan was riding south on Moody Park Drive when she collided with a trash truck that was westbound on 95th Street. Overland Park police said Saturday that the accident is still under investigation.
I wonder if Overland Park will allow a White Bike at this intersection.
It’s easier to earn forgiveness than receive permission…except in Overland Park where arrest might preceed forgiveness.
I meant no contempt for OP in my above remarks. Hassan’s death is a sad event for his city.
I had her in my environmental ed class and this was one of the most confused individuals I have ever came across. I don’t think she ever had an opportunity at a legitimate education, and this is really fucked up that she had to die. I can think of hundreds of people who should’ve died before her