Vehicles were moving even slower today than usual, each stopping completely between Hoover High School and Toll Middle School at the Glenwood Road crosswalk, where an 11-year-old sixth grade student was struck and killed yesterday. Flags at these two schools, and adjacent Mark Keppel Elementary School, were flying at half-mast.
What a horrible tragedy for the family of the girl who was killed, the school and community, and the motorist who accidentally struck her. Principals of the three schools recorded messages that went to all student households, asking that thoughts and prayers be with the families, and advising that counselors were standing by if students needed them.
The three schools in these two blocks form a large community of primary students from kindergarten to high school seniors. Morning classes start around 8 a.m., drop-off traffic is intense, and there are at least eight crossing guards at key intersections, many of which are one-way streets. My count of crossing guards yesterday:
- Highland Avenue and Glenwood Road – 2
- Virginia Street and Glenwood Road – 2
- Concord Street and Glenwood Road – 2
- Concord Street and Stocker Street – 2
The crosswalk itself does not have crossing guards, but does have buttons, lights and an indented curb.
The degree of vigilance required to drive on these streets in the morning is very high. Some parents drop children off on the wrong side of Virginia Street and send them jaywalking past the cars inching forward to the approved drop-off point in front of the gate. Students occasionally run into the crosswalk on Glenwood with no warning, or jaywalk past cars moving in both directions. With vehicles pulling off to the side to drop off students then pulling back into traffic, watching for buses, crossing guard signals, stray pedestrians, and other vehicles jockeying for a place on the sidewalk or back in traffic are serious challenges for even the most alert driver. Students themselves need to be told again and again to respect those moving vehicles and not to assume they’ll be ok if they take any chances.
I’m always grateful when a cranky crossing guard loudly scolds pedestrians or drivers who don’t pay careful attention to signals, and it happens regularly. They are taking their job seriously when they single out anyone who doesn’t understand the stakes. The exact cause of the accident yesterday hasn’t been determined. Hopefully, parents and students are all determined to be even more vigilant and careful on neighborhood streets.