An elementary school principal says drivers need to slow down in school zones after one of his students was struck by a vehicle in a crosswalk.
Okotoks RCMP say an eight-year-old boy was crossing Crystal Ridge Drive at Milligan Drive at around 8:40 a.m. on Feb. 25 when he was hit by an SUV turning at the intersection. The Dr. Morris Gibson School student was attended to by EMS and released with no injuries. Okotoks firefighters and RCMP also responded to the incident, according to an RCMP press release.
School principal Kevin Newman said a supervisor near the intersection at the time of the incident helped the boy.
“The student was just about finished crossing when he was struck,” Newman said. “The child did everything right. He did everything our kids are taught to do.”
Newman said the boy’s mother was contacted and the youngster returned to class soon after the incident.
The school offers year-round safety education about walking to school, crossing streets and stranger danger, Newman said. In some instances, the school brings in the RCMP and Okotoks Municipal Enforcement to lead presentations.
There is little else they can do, he said.
“We can’t do anything about the traffic,” he said. “It’s beyond our reach of control. It’s our parents who are the traffic. We do notice our presence at that intersection tends to slow people down.”
Newman said some parents are afraid to let their children cross the busy four-way stop alone and often walk with them or drive them to school.
“It’s a high traffic area,” he said. “There is a lot of kids crossing. People need to slow down and keep kids safe. We got a lot of complaints about the traffic around the school.”
Newman said he sent an email to teachers asking that they reiterate safety lessons for students who walk to and from school and another to parents informing them of the incident and that the student wasn’t hurt.
A 41-year-old woman has been charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian.
