As details emerge about the pedestrian hit on
Christmas Day, I wanted to share another incident reported in the Howe Elementary School Newsletter dated December 15.
Attention drivers: IMPORTANT!
We are all in a rush this time of year but please make sure safety around the school comes first. There have been many reported incidences of unsafe driving near the school. LAST WEEK A STUDENT WAS HURT RESULTING IN STITCHES BECAUSE OF AN ILLEGAL U-TURN DURING DROP-OFF.
Please make sure you drive with extra care around the school, within safe walk routes and pay close attention to the Crossing Guards. Do not make illegal turns, u turns or allow children to walk between parked cars.
Despite the "5 minute limit" sign YOU MAY NOT PARK IN THE GO ZONE TO WALK YOUR CHILD INTO THE SCHOOL DURING PICK-UP and DROP-OFF TIMES. Please inform all drivers of your children! Please help us avoid dangerous situations for all children that are driven or walk to school.
Unfortunately, those that have ignored the municipality created GO ZONE for all schools in Mt. Lebanon and simple safe driving has resulted in police presence and license plate number collection. Please realize our goal is to keep all children safe. Feel free to contact me with any concerns.
We all know about the dangers of crossing Washington Road at Washington School, but there are still drivers who will not yield to pedestrians. I was meeting friends at Uptown Coffee on Sunday afternoon, and parked in the South Lot. Several families were standing at the crosswalk waiting to cross along with me. At least five cars passed us by before cars finally stopped.
People like to blame deer for the deer/vehicle collisions. I have my doubts that deer are entirely responsible for the accidents. Or are we talking dear/vehicle collisions? Who is to blame when pedestrians are hit?
When there are parents making illegal U-turns in front of schools, dropping off kids in the middle of the crosswalk at Washington Elementary, or not giving pedestrians the right of way at crosswalks, how can we call ourselves a walking community? Remember how the residents on North Meadowcroft fought to get sidewalks for kids walking to Lincoln? Yet, now there are more important issues on our commissioners' minds.
Update December 28, 2013 9:00 AM The Howe Principal's email concerning this issue:
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 11:54:29 -0800
From:
noreply@mtlsd.net
Subject: SAFETY ISSUE
Dear Howe Families:
I am extremely concerned about the current safety issue at arrival and dismissal times. Today I received the following alarming email :
"I have a safety concern that I would like to bring to your attention. This morning my husband was dropping our sons off at school and (X) was almost hit by a car in the crosswalk at Annawanda because a car decided to do a three point turn in the middle of the crosswalk after the crossing guard had already let them cross.
Thank goodness the crossing guard (not Bill, as he is out sick, it was a substitute) grabbed (X) to pull him out of the way so he was not hit. In the process, his stop sign ended up hitting my son in the head and he is now on his way to get stitches. I will most definitely take this injury over being hit by a car, but he was sad to miss school today.
The thing that has me the most concerned is that the car that did this then pulled up in front of the school to drop a student off. (And did not stop or seem to even notice what had happened) As a parent, I know that I am very careful driving around the school during drop off and pick up times, and I would hope that other parents would have the courtesy to do the same, especially in the crosswalks."
Just last week I received this email:
"I've just returned from dropping (X) off for school and I'm a little shaken up. I nearly hit a child who blindly darted out in front of my car after she was dropped off in the middle of Broadmoor from a vehicle heading toward Anawanda. Two other children got out of the same car and each ran around the car a different way before also running across Broadmoor.
Yesterday another car stopped in the traffic lane next to the drop off lane and dropped off instead of pulling into the drop off lane, which was clear. It really concerns me that parents and caregivers are willing to sacrifice a child's safety for their own convenience. In addition I'm upset that their poor choice almost put me in the position of harming a child."
I know that no one wants to endanger a child; however, careless disregard for safety rules at arrival and dismissal resulted in one child going to the hospital and another having a near-miss. I have contacted the Mt. Lebanon Police Department to be at school during arrival and dismissal to ticket any car not following safety rules. Please make a conscious choice to follow all safety precautions. Help us protect your children.
Sincerely,
Michelle Murray
Principal
Update December 30, 2013 7:42 PM I had no idea how bad it is in the AM around the schools. This photo was taken by a parent walking his child to school. This is on Pinoak approaching the turn on Moffett to drop off students at Jefferson Middle School. The line of
cars goes past Sweet Gum Road, where additional cars are waiting to enter the
queue. These waiting cars still have a long wait ahead of them to the Go Zone.
 |
Parents waiting for other parents to move on so they can have
their 30 seconds in the Go Zone. Walking here is faster. |
A Lebo Citizens reader explained that the back up gets worse on bad weather days but there is always, always, always back
up and quite honestly, doesn't think these parents are leaving their cars or
dilly-dallying in the Go Zone.
Although recently, some parents got so frustrated with the dismissal procedures
that they started using a church parking lot along the road to pick-up their
children. The principals were alerted somehow and sent out a warning email of
the hazards associated with that behavior. Here is that email:
December 10, 2013
Dear Jefferson parents:
It has come to our attention from the staff at Bower Hill Community Church that car traffic in their parking lots during our dismissal time has been causing problems. You should know that this church is the home to a developmental pre-school program sponsored by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. This program buses students from all over the south hills to their facility in the church. Recently, cars picking up Jefferson students have prevented their buses from getting into and out of their parking lots, particularly the lot closest to the Hospice building. The BHCC staff has kindly asked our school community to refrain from using this lot. Please contact your principal if you have any questions about this request.
Thank you.
Marc Thornton, Principal, Jefferson Elementary
James Walsh, Principal, Jefferson Middle
