We will never, ever forget Cameron Dunmore, and hope that the school system has worked closely with the county Transportation Department to identify and fix any pedestrian hazards at or by every single county school.
Second-grader hit, killed in DeKalb school crosswalk
Neighbors had earlier expressed concern about intersection safety at Princeton Elementary
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, February 02, 2009
Cameron Dunmore headed off to school early Monday to start his day in the gifted program at Princeton Elementary School in south DeKalb County.
His older sister had seen the 7-year-old second-grader to the corner in front of the school on South DeShon Road. That’s when it happened — a parent’s worst nightmare.
Police say as Cameron crossed the street at the school crosswalk at 7:30 a.m., he was struck by a sport utility vehicle that did not stop for the crosswalk.
Now, we have another tragedy. 6-year-old Suk Maya and her 10-year-old brother were to have started at Indian Creek Elementary on Wednesday. Unfortunately, Suk was killed by a driver with a long history of idiotic driving violations.
Another young DeKalb resident is gone because of a selfish driver who couldn’t wait a few seconds for a MARTA bus to unload. Gregory Armwood, a truly awful driver, should have been charged with a felony, but because the laws are so weak in Georgia for dangerous drivers, he’s out on bond facing misdemeanor charges.
According to state records, Armwood has had a number of traffic offenses since 1992, including DUI, running stop signs and red lights and causing accidents and speeding by as much as 33 mph over the posted speed limit. His most recent conviction was in DeKalb County on Sept. 9, 2003, for driving 75 mph in a 55 mph zone.
Things have to change in DeKalb and Georgia. It is unacceptable to lose any more of our young because of self-centered, ignorant drivers. The school system, county Transportation Dept., Georgia Dept. of Transportation, Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, etc. should do everything in their power to educate drivers on driving smarter and slower, especially near schools and during the school year.
Check out PEDS for more info., and go to http://peds.org/multimedia/videos/ to see their powerful Anti-Speeding Ad video.
And here’s hoping that David Guillory and the large administrative staff of the DCSS Transportation Office has worked very closely with the DeKalb County Transportation Dept. since the Cameron Dunmore/Princeton Elementary tragedy for better safety for all of our students walking and bicycling to every county school. You have, right David??!
Get off your cell phones and PDA's and drive, people. Just drive.
ReplyDeleteOn vacation in Florida, I saw a Mom on a golf cart with three kids texting while she was driving. Is this generation of parents that stupid?
What does it take to lose your license in Georgia? This @#^* that ran down that poor little girl will be back on the roads in a matter of months
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any more information about the students who were run over on Monday?
ReplyDeleteAs far as we know, they are all ok, thankfully!!
ReplyDeleteI understand that one of the kids hit by the car by HMS is still in pretty serious condition and will need a number of surgeries -- he's (they were all Hispanic boys) apparantly going to be okay --e.g. wasn't killed -- but will have a long road ahead of him. The other kids are supposedly fine. This is the rumor I heard today.
ReplyDeleteOh man, that's too bad. Thanks for sharing. We'll keep him in our prayers.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/21659523/index.html
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/21658959/detail.html
CBS Atlanta also caught a DeKalb County school bus. It slowed down, but rolled right through the stop sign and made a right turn.
“Wow that doesn’t seem safe at all,” said Janna Murray.
Janna Murray’s house is also near the intersection. Murray feels it’s just a matter of time before something bad happens, if school buses and big garbage trucks keep running the stop signs.
“Cause it’s a lot of kids that live around here,” said Murray.
DCSS school buses routinely speed in my neighborhood well over the speed limit, and coast through stop signs. They especially speed during the second afternoon bus run.
ReplyDeleteWe got nowhere when we contacted the school system. We were simply blown off. There are no checks and balances in the DCSS Transportation Dept. No one values safety and safe driving. It was a sad and depressing experience dealing with DCSS staff.