Second student in 4 months hit in crosswalk outside Lakota school

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hio WXIX) - A female student was struck by a vehicle in a crosswalk outside Lakota West High School early Friday.

It happened on West Chester Road between Muhlhauser Road and Union Centre Boulevard, said a township spokeswoman, Barb Wilson.

"She was conscious and was transported to West Chester Hospital. It appears that the female student was in the crosswalk. The driver stopped . Police are investigating."

West Chester Road is closed between Muhlhauser and Union Centre while police investigate.

FOX19 NOW asked Wilson if a crossing guard or police were in the area at the time.

"There was no person specifically staffing the crosswalk if that's the question," she responded. "It was a crosswalk with flashing lights that we believe were activated by the student before crossing."

This is the second time in four months a student has been struck in an unmanned crosswalk outside one of Lakota's schools and the second time since 2018 a student was struck in an unmanned crosswalk on West Chester Road outside Lakota West High School.

We reached out to a school district spokeswoman for comment and also sought comment from the school board and superintendent.

In addition to asking about the accident, FOX19 NOW also asked the district about crossing guards and if crosswalks would continue to be unmanned.

The school district spokeswoman, Betsy Fuller, responded:

"A Lakota West student who attends Butler Tech was struck by a car while crossing West Chester Road this morning and has been transported to the hospital. West Chester Township police are investigating so I cannot comment any further about the accident at this time. We are keeping the student and their family in our thoughts and hoping for the best possible outcome."

Maddy Beare, a Lakota West sophomore, was thrown 84 feet when she was hit in an unmanned crosswalk on West Chester Road in November 2018.

She suffered broken and cracked bones but has since recovered from her injuries and is a college student now.

Lakota East Freshman School student Aspen Dylan Runnels, 15, was struck in an unmanned crosswalk on Bethany Road in Liberty Township and killed in May.

The driver who hit him, 26-year-old Kaitlyn Hyde of Hamilton, was indicted last month on a misdemeanor charge of vehicular homicide.

She was behind the wheel of a blue, 2007 GMC Sierra pickup truck and speeding an estimated 10 miles over the 20 mph school zone limit on eastbound Bethany Road, distracted by a passenger, when the truck hit Aspen, according to the crash report.

It happened minutes after classes were dismissed around 2:10 p.m. on May 15.

Hyde stopped and cooperated with investigators at the scene. She told deputies from the Butler County Sheriff's Office she was looking away from the road to adjust her 3-month-old baby's pacifier when the truck hit Aspen.

She "failed to yield the right of way to pedestrians in the crosswalk," the report states.

Aspen was taken to Cincinnati Children's Medical Center in Avondale in critical condition.

Hyde was released on the day of the accident without charges or a ticket being issued while it remained under investigation.

Six days later, Aspen's mother announced on social media her son suffered a "catastrophic" brain injury that was "not survivable."

Meanwhile, 2,501 people have signed a petition started in Aspen's name to "Increase Safety Requirements for Students in School Zone Crosswalks."

"Sadly, this is not an isolated event; similar incidents occurred in the same district in 2018 and 2019," the petition states.

At the same time, the petition notes, the state of Ohio has slashed funding for schools, resulting in districts cutting student bussing.

From the day after Aspen was hit until school ended for the year just over a week later, a Butler County deputy sheriff served as a crossing guard at the crosswalk and helped students cross Bethany Road at both arrival and dismissal times.

A marked sheriff's cruiser with the lights flashing also was prominently parked at the entrance of the school's parking lot where students cross.

The crossing guard was added at the request of the school and it's the school's responsibility to decide whether to put crossing guards in their school zones, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said at the time.

There is no law requiring crossing guards in Ohio but many school zones and communities have them anyway for the safety of students and adults.

Parnell told FOX19 NOW in a May 16 interview that the schools need to have some type of patrol for student pedestrians.

"Hopefully, they can try to facilitate some kind of patrolling for these kids outside of these schools, no matter what their age is, just to try to help, whether it's a crossguard or a crosswalk guard," she said.

The day after Aspen was hit, school officials announced in an update to students and their families that they were working with the sheriff's office and Liberty Township leaders to review safety measures beyond the crosswalk and flashing school zone lights and signs.

They also stressed the importance of drivers obeying the lower school zone speed limits during arrival and dismissal times.

The crossing guard did not return to Lakota East Freshman School this academic year.

Instead, a sheriff's cruiser was at the school's entrance off Bethany Road for at least the first week and the school zone was extended with signs and a flasher by 300 feet, a Lakota spokeswoman has said.

Additionally, she said last month, Butler County will do a traffic and speed study on Bethany Road sometime after the start of the school year to get a more accurate assessment of the traffic conditions.

"Roads fall under the township and county's jurisdiction, but we will continue to collaborate with them on school zone safety for all our schools," Betsy Fuller told FOX19 NOW on Aug. 7.

Students from the freshman building who go over to Lakota East High School for activities such as band and sports can take an activity bus there instead of walking.

Students also can take the activity bus to Edge Teen Center nearby after school. It's privately run with after-school programming.