LANCASTER, Ohio — Lancaster mother Amber Easley-Smith said her 7-year-old daughter A’Myra is still in the hospital after she was hit by a car in a busy Lancaster crosswalk in May.
The incident occurred when A'Myra and her two sisters were crossing West 6th Avenue. Easley-Smith said her 12-year-old daughter was leading the way, pressed the crosswalk button and looked both ways before leading the girls across the street.
Two of the sisters were holding hands and A'Myra was a couple feet behind. Seconds later, A'Myra was hit.
“They did tell us that she will be permanently paralyzed,” said Easley-Smith.
Easley-Smith said the crosswalk, located off of W 6th Avenue. near the Robert K. Fox Family YMCA, is a dangerous place and the crosswalk is not enough to keep kids safe.
“I feel like before somebody else gets hurt, or especially somebody else's child gets hurt, they need to do something,” she said.
Neighbors said they see cars speeding through the street all the time, and the crosswalk alone isn’t slowing cars down.
“There's flashing lights but nobody pays attention to them,” said Mendy Moore, whose grandchildren live in the area.
Residents Frank and Caroline Sylvestor said they would like to see speed bumps on the street. Caroline recalls the night A’Myra was hit and said the girls hit the crosswalk button, but the car sped through and hit her.
"It was terrible that night. I didn't know how bad it was hurt because I didn't know anyone to follow up, but I knew it was bad,” said Caroline.
According to Lancaster police, there have been four accidents in the area in the last three years, including one accident in the YMCA parking lot.
A’Myra is the only person who has been hit by a car in the crosswalk.
"It shouldn't take more than one crash after what has happened with a child being hit by a car. It shouldn't come to that,” said Moore.
Anyone who would like to support A’Myra and her family during this time can donate to their GoFundMe.
The following statement was sent to 10TV by Lancaster Chief of Police Nicholas Snyder:
"Traffic safety, especially pedestrian traffic, is something that is constantly evaluated. While frequency of accidents is a common factor that triggers a municipality to evaluate the safety of any one area, it isn’t the only factor. For example, despite the low frequency of accidents at the West Sixth Avenue/Hocking Street location, responding officers and traffic reconstructionist still evaluate the scene and its surroundings. If obstacles, line of sight, and/or environmental factors are potential contributors to any event, we have the ability to forward that information to the city to remedy the issue. In this circumstance, nothing of that nature was observed.
In the evaluation of this intersection, we know it was marked with functioning crossing lights. We will continue to discuss any potential changes to the intersection to ascertain if they would make an impact to the driving behavior in that area. These considerations are coupled with the above mentioned frequency of accidents. In considering frequency, it appears four accidents were recorded in the area in the last three to four years. All four accidents were due to driver negligence, while one included a private property crash on the YMCA’s parking lot.
In sum, this crossing will continue to be discussed and evaluated. Beyond that, we would like to remind drivers that if a crossing signal is active, they should completely stop and check for pedestrian traffic prior to crossing the marked area. Flashing pedestrian traffic signals give the pedestrian the right of way. The Lancaster Police Department would like to emphasize that distracted driving is a major contributor to motor vehicle crashes, and the most significant impact to the public’s safety can be made by simply concentrating on your surroundings while driving.”