I-80 crash claims UNL student's life
BY BUTCH MABIN / Lincoln Journal Star

Derek Kieper was a smart, funny, intense young man who relished a good debate and would do anything for his friends.

Kieper, a 21-year-old senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, died early Tuesday morning when the Ford Explorer he was a passenger in travelled off an icy section of Interstate 80 and rolled several times in a ditch. Kieper, who was riding in the back seat of the Explorer, was ejected from the vehicle.

Two others in the vehicle, including the driver, Luke Havermann of Ogallala, and the front-seat passenger, Nick Uphoff of Randolph Air Force Base in Texas, sustained non-life threatening injuries. Havermann and Uphoff, both 21, were being treated at BryanLGH Medical Center West.

The three men, members of the same UNL fraternity, were returning to Lincoln from San Antonio, Texas at the time of the accident, reported to authorities by a truck driver around 3 a.m.

"At this point in time, I'm in shock," Kieper's father, Paul Kieper, said in an interview Tuesday.

"He was a bright young boy, a 4.0," Paul Kieper said. "He loved to be silly. He loved to debate."

Paul Kieper said his son graduated from North Platte High School in 2002. When Derek Kieper came to Lincoln for college, the elder Kieper moved here, too.

Derek Kieper played on the defensive line for the North Platte High School football team, his father said. At UNL, Derek took on five majors — history, psychology, economics, sociology and political science — and had plans to attend law school.

Last year, Derek attended a summer program in economics at Oxford University in England.

"He loved it," Paul Kieper said. "It was his first time with travel abroad."

Kade Pittman, a friend of Derek since seventh grade, said Derek was a true friend.

"He'd do anything for anybody," he said. "He was really funny, extremely intelligent. He'd tutor me in classes he didn't even take."

Pittman said he last saw Derek shortly before Derek headed off to Texas for Christmas break.

"It's really tragic," Pittman said. "He's really going to be missed."

Capt. Joe Lefler of the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office said Havermann was driving the Explorer east on the interstate near Northwest 48th Street when the vehicle went out of control on the ice-covered road. He said the vehicle travelled into the south ditch and rolled several times.

A truck driver headed in the same direction witnessed the accident and called 911, Lefler said. He said alcohol did not play a role in the accident, but he declined to discuss how fast the Explorer was travelling.

Derek, who was thrown from the vehicle, was not wearing a seat belt, Lefler said. He said Havermann and Uphoff were wearing seat belts at the time.

In a column written for the Daily Nebraskan in September, Derek attacked seat belt laws as intrusions on individual liberties and expensive to enforce.

"It is my choice what type of safety precautions I take," he wrote.

"There seems to be a die-hard group of non-wearers out there who simply do not wish to buckle up no matter what the government does. I belong to this group."

Erica Rogers, opinion page editor at the Daily Nebraskan, said Derek's brains and intensity would be missed. Kieper and Rogers had lively political debates, she said.

"He had a Republican focus on economic issues," she said. "He was aggressive. He was really intense.

"He was a very engaging student. I'm sure UNL will be at a loss."

Reach Butch Mabin at 473-7234 or at bmabin@journalstar.com.

This is a car accident epidemic...moderately famous people, stay away from cars!
[Edited 1/20/05 13:39pm]

you know whatever big ol' spirit in the sky will be sayin to 'im when he's at the pearly gates..."so you thought you were smart, eh...?" folks out there who actually are against seatbelt use? my goodness...i could never imagine myself not wearin one. buckling my seat belt when i get into a car is like an automatic reflex for me.

VoicesCarry said:

Uh oh....

I'm taking the F train!

JohnStewart said:

what, no quitting cars cold turkey?

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

yup. one of my best friends was killed in the same way. was throw away from the car when it flipped, and broke her neck. died instantly

why don't people get it?

i could make a list for you... the ones who die are the ones in the vehicle not wearing a seatbelt

my friends mother
my highschool senior
4 other schoolmates
my neighbor's wife

and on july 31, 1983
my sister. her passanger walked away because she was wearing her belt

I don't have much of a choice, and neither does anyone else that gets in my car. I got a 2005 Escape, and it starts beeping like hell if you don't put your seatbelt on, and theres no way to shut it off. Somehow it can detect when someone is sitting in a seat.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

So true

Tom said:

Is it possessed??

All well and good, but I don't own a car, so how the hell am I supposed to put a seat belt on????

Tom said:

What if you put your groceries on the seat? does it ask you to put a seat belt on for them?

Heavenly said:

well people especially kids have died or been injured by heavy objects that fly around during an accident.

i understand right to privacy and freedom to live how you want to live but logic should always take hold. if you know you can die from an accident and you know that a seatbelt reduces that then.... it doesn't matter if its forced on you, thats a petty reason to refuse to follow a law thats for your own good..