City planners and traffic engineers could install bump outs and speed bumps, lower speed limits, add traffic lights, etc.” slow down… and be aware of their surroundings. “If our community prioritized the safety of all roads, users…our roads would look different than they currently do. “Traffic violence and specifically pedestrian safety is a problem that has to be addressed through a variety of mechanisms,” Brigid Howe, a member of the Board of Directors for the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (MCCPTA) said. Moreover, advocates note that many schools are not located in areas designed to be community-friendly. For example, in the December 2019 Bradley Hills student’s fatal crash, there were no sidewalks on the road where the students were dropped off, which led to dangerous circumstances. Problematic infrastructure is a significant cause of these crashes. “There’s an intersection that is just a mess – it looks like there are no rules sometimes.” “When I go through the carpool line in the mornings, it’s very chaotic,” WCHS sophomore Julianna Ward said. There have been no crashes for WCHS students, but the same factors that caused the previous collisions are present at WCHS as well. Naming Montgomery County directly, the act calls for a pedestrian safety plan to be required in specific situations in terms of school expansions. The Safe Walk to School Act was recently passed in the Maryland General Assembly after being introduced by Del. These repeated collisions have led to legislative change. Kennedy High School students were injured, one with life-threatening injuries, at their bus stop after getting struck by a car. The morning after, a Walter Johnson High School student was seriously injured after being hit by a car while crossing the road to board his school bus. In December 2019, a 9-year-old Bradley Hills Elementary School student died after being hit by the school bus she had just exited. On April 5, 2022, a seven-year-old Ashburton Elementary School student died after being hit by a car while waiting for his bus near his stop in Bethesda. However, being safe on the way to and from school is not guaranteed in MCPS. These numbers represent the Maryland fine for ignoring the red flashing lights on a stopped school bus, the number of citations issued by Montgomery County in the 2018-2019 school year to drivers who illegally passed school buses and the number of students in MCPS who ride a school bus daily, respectively.
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