Another kid was knocked off his bike yesterday by a car.
No ones fault really, kid not looking, driver not looking.. the true definition of an accident.
Guess what? There are loads of those opportunities every day at drop off and pick up in front of Central - Hauser. I cannot speak for the other schools, because I have not witnessed them regularly, but it is a mess in the center of town as it is and adding to the chaos of cut thru and business traffic you have hundreds of kids dodging parked cars to jump into others, bikes cascading thru the cars, cars not noticing a red light thru the chaos, etc. etc.
Given the events of last year with regards to the crossing guards, the safety of our children is, according to D96, clearly not their responsiblity. OK, so I challenge the Village to take active measures.
For starters, can we please ask our police dept to give us some statistics on child/car accidents locations and frequencies. Then, please, lets continue this discussion.
This is not a question of whether a serious accident will occur, it is only a matter of when.
Riverside Info » About Riverside
Dropped off, or Picked up (or Picked Off) at D96
(12 posts)-
Posted Thursday Apr 14, 2011 21:43 #
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Amen, amen, Kim. Woe be unto us should one child be hurt. Time to explore very seriously more active traffic calming measures, as well as dispersion onto both sides of the campus. It is a bit complicated, but surely not insoluble. Planners do this all the time. Thank you for alerting all readers to the latest news.
Posted Friday Apr 15, 2011 09:15 # -
I took Dr. Lamberson out onto the playground to show him how a drop off zone could be done using the two existing driveways and a series of cones that would be put out in the am. That was over a year ago. A few months back he said he was going to implement something. People coming from the north should be required to use that side. There is never any enforcement of the "Positively No Parking or Standing" signs, and usually the cars are wrapped way around past the church - don't kids walk or ride bikes anymore?
Posted Friday Apr 15, 2011 09:53 # -
I had a feeling Don would hop in with the "don't kids walk or ride bikes anymore." Yes, they do. Lots of them do. And, as Kim points out, sometimes they get hit by cars. The Village and the School need to work together to address this issue.
Posted Friday Apr 15, 2011 10:37 # -
I heartily support taking action to improve safety and pickup/drop off procedures at Central/Hauser. The intersection of Longcommon and Akenside should have "No parking" from the school lot driveway to Longcommon. Currently parking is permitted up to about 30 feet from the stop sign at Longcommon/Akenside{along the St. Paul Church property}. This parking interfers with traffic flow and school/pedestrian parking, especially during school hours and arrival and dismissal times. This parking also makes it dangerous for both cars and pedestrians when cars turn off Longcommon on to Akenside to proceed North. My recollection is that some of this parking was permitted for school staff, but this should be reevaluated in view of traffic flow and safety issues. Although I rarely agree with many of Mr. Spatny's positions, I believe serious consideration should be given to the idea of pickup/drop off on the School lot. It would do wonders in controllig the school related traffic/safety issues, while coupled with the aforementioned parking changes, would improve general traffic flow and safety in this area. The impact of a pick up zone would also effect the Woodside traffic snarl on school days. We have had a couple of accidents involving kids in the past few months as well as a hit and run involving a crossing guard. It appears that the stress created for drivers picking up our "little darlings" is building to a point where it is only a matter of time until we will suffer a real tragedy. It's too bad that even in Riverside parents can't have the kids walk to/from school or picked up on foot. The manners of some drivers in these zones is beyond belief. But with all the smart people we have in this town it can be solved.
Posted Friday Apr 15, 2011 10:37 # -
Glad to hear that, Jack. I just came home and there are cars stopped in all lanes waiting - people on cell phones, Woodside is an obstacle course - a car parked in front of our driveway - the coppers need to clear this mess out, not just sit in their cars. Kids are running for cars parked across the street - darting out between SUVs so you can hardly see them because of the showers. I sure hope one of them doesn't get seriously hurt or killed out there.... When the snow was piled up and the church didn't clear the snow on the sidewalk there were little kids walking in the street around the point at Kimbark that you could.t see because of the snowbanks - it's a very dangerous situation.
Posted Friday Apr 15, 2011 15:14 # -
If you think this is bad, have you seen the traffic nightmare at RB? People have no consideration or respect for anyone.
The report from the police department: "At 8:00 am on Friday, April 15, 2011 Riverside Police Officers were dispatched to the area of Riverside-Brookfield High School for the report of a student who had been struck by a vehicle on Ridgewood Rd.
Upon arrival, no student was observed in the immediate area and a check with RB administrators yielded negative results for an injured student. An announcement was made to all students for anyone struck by a car to report to the nurse's office. A 14 year old male student reported to the nurse and said that he was late for school and running across Ridgewood, just east of 1st Ave., when he was bumped by a light colored vehicle.
The juvenile was transported to Loyola Hospital to be checked, but did not complain of any major injury.
A witness provided a license plate number to Riverside-Brookfield administrators, who submitted it to Riverside Police Department. The vehicle driver, Liya Bystritskaya, 52 of North Riverside, came to Riverside PD, where she was interviewed and subsequently issued one citation for failing to report an accident to police authorities.
Chief Tom Weitzel stated, "Traffic enforcement near schools is a very serious problem. I urge everyone to slow down to save lives. For those who don't, Riverside Police will be out in force near school zones ensuring that drivers obey the law."
Posted Friday Apr 15, 2011 21:43 # -
The other night at the rb d208 board meeting, there was a presentation by the person heading up the effort to try to get a bridge built across 1st av. He pointed out that there was something like a 20 pct increase in car and truck traffic on 1st av since , I think he said, the 1990s.
A bridge might assist people in allowing their kids to walk /bike to HS from the east, and hopefully reduce the volume of cars in that space as well as getting kids out of harms way. they could do it without crossing that horrendous 1st av.
The guy also did point out that 1st av - IL 171 - is a class *1* highway.
Posted Saturday Apr 16, 2011 00:01 # -
Bicycles. Walking. Scooters. In the midst of an obesity epidemic, shouldn't we emphasize non-motorized transpo for our kids ?
Posted Saturday Apr 16, 2011 08:08 # -
Chris,
I agree that the emphasis should be on non-motorized transport. However, in some cases, driving is necessary. My kids aren't old enough to walk to school by themselves, so 3 days a week--due to our childcare schedule--I need to drive them. I'd prefer to walk them over, but if I do that, I don't make my train. We should encourage walking (or biking or scootering), but we also need to recognize that driving is sometimes necessary for some of us. It's possible that we can encourage exercise and commit to enhanced safety at the same time.
Posted Saturday Apr 16, 2011 12:24 #
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