A third student within a week was hit by a car while making their way to a Broken Arrow school on Wednesday.
Police say he was riding his bike across this street near Albany and County Line Road. Although the intersection has a traffic light, parents say a crossing-guard would improve the safety of students.
"One of the last things I want to think of is what can happen to my daughter on a daily basis walking to school," Hugo Gutierrez, a parent, said.
The recent news of three students, hit by cars while going to and from school, has some Broken Arrow parents concerned.
"Everything that you work so hard for with your kids and have invested into them could be gone in a second because somebody wasn't watching or because the kids were given more responsibility than they should have," Gutierrez said,
Two students were hit by vehicles just last week.
"The parents just put a message on Facebook the other day that two children that crossed the street in her neighborhood that were hit by cars last Friday," Alisha Rupp, a parent said. "And so she was asking for prayer requests for this two children."
Broken Arrow Public Schools addressed the issue, stating it was "saddened by the unfortunate accident" and would evaluate if changes in the district are needed to prevent future accidents.
Recently, because of budget cuts, the school changed its bus routes leaving children within a mile and a half from school without a bus.
"Between this neighborhood and the one next to ours we filled up a whole bus load of kids, so we knew that there was a need to get these kids across the street," Rupp said.
This means walking for many, but parents say after they raised the issue, the school district took action.
"They immediately got us a crossing guard," Rupp said. "They changed the lights, they moved the lights forward to make sure we were in the crossing guard area and they painted the street."
Now, with recent tragedies, parents hope the district will take another proactive measure.
"They need to look at these crossing guards and put them in place"
The school district says the three students all lived in zones that are served by buses and none of the accidents were a result of bus changes.
None the students were seriously injured.
Read the school district's full statement below:
"We are saddened to report that a high school student was struck by a vehicle while he was riding a bicycle across County Line Road near Albany. The accident happened near campus but was not on school property. The student was transported to an area hospital for medical treatment. We will keep in touch with the student's family so that we may provide additional support.The district will work with the Broken Arrow Police Department to evaluate measures needed to prevent this type of accident in the future."
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