Justin Ross Yoder (November 9, 1986 – September 15, 2024) was an American soapbox racer. He was the first child with a disability to drive a soapbox in the All American Soapbox Derby. In 1996, he challenged the regulations to allow children with disabilities to use a hand

brake A brake is a machine, mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for Acceleration, slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of ...

instead of the required foot brake. Thanks to him, regulations were changed. The hand brake is now called the Justin Brake in his honor. Yoder had spina bifida and hydrocephalus. His story is told in the film '' Miracle in Lane 2'', starring Frankie Muniz. Yoder was a

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

and attended the same church as the film's screenwriters Don Yost and Joel Kauffmann. Yoder was a student at

Goshen College Goshen College is a Private college, private Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana. It was founded in 1894 as the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts, a ...

Goshen, Indiana Goshen ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart–Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend–Elkhart–Mish ...

, and majored in American Sign Language Interpreting. Yoder was involved in a serious car collision on September 14, 2024, after another driver being pursued by police at high speed struck the vehicle he was riding in. He died the following day from his injuries, at the age of 37.Obituary , Justin Yoder , Yoder-Culp Funeral Home
Justin Yoder Obituary, September 2024.

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External links

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Justin Yoder ('05): "Frosh surprised by caring classmates"
Bethany Christian School Bulletin, pp. 6–7, Summer 2002 edition. (Retrieved April 26, 2007) 1986 births 2024 deaths People from Elkhart County, Indiana Goshen College alumni Sportspeople from Indiana People with spina bifida American activists with disabilities Sportspeople with disabilities {{US-sport-bio-stub