Boy hit by car while walking in school zone, parents worried
Some parents in Conception Bay South are worried about how safe their children are walking in school zones, after a boy was hit by a vehicle on Thursday.
The 15-year-old boy was hit by a car near Frank Roberts Junior High School, while he was walking home from school. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary previously said the boy was 10 years old.
Some people who live in the area say they've warned the town this kind of accident was bound to happen.
Flynn and her family live across the street from the school, on the busy Foxtrap Access Road.
She said the area is constantly busy with traffic.
"This is a provincial highway, so just to the south of us it's a 70 kilometre speed limit and then it goes down to a 50 just before you get here. Most people don't adhere to that," said Flynn.
"The Trans-Canada Highway connects to the C.B.S. bypass here, so a lot of people use this as a thoroughfare to go camping, construction zones, not realizing there's two schools right here."
But Flynn said the problem isn't just the volume of traffic; she said the problem is exacerbated by the fact that there are no sidewalks.
Sidewalks are costly
Flynn said she's written the province, the Town of Conception Bay South, the school board and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary to warn about accidents waiting to happen.
"In this particular area, I think when they did it last they actually clocked some people doing like 95 kilometres going along in a school zone, and it's ridiculous," said McDonald.
The town said it will be putting new signage in all the schools zones, but can't lower the speed limit without permission from the provincial government.
The town added it would be extremely expensive to build sidewalks in those areas, without some help from the province.
The provincial government, which is responsible for the Foxtrap Access Road, said it's looking into the situation.