Dearborn Heights: The death of a Dearborn Heights youth in October prompted citizens to ask city officials to increase the criteria for protection in school district spaces.
Joseph Smith, a 12-year-old student from District 7 of Dearborn Heights, was returning home from a football game at Annapolis High School on the night of Oct. 14 when he crashed into a vehicle near Pardee Avenue and Annapolis Street.
At the time of the crash, police said they were investigating the matter.
“The Jeep’s driving force was fully cooperative, remaining on the scene as required by law and cooperating with law enforcement,” Dearborn Heights Police Chief Jerrod Hart told the Detroit News in October. “According to investigators, it does not appear that the motive force committed traffic violations, and this is a tragic loss of life. “
Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office, told the Detroit News on Friday that it appeared charges had been filed in the case.
This month, another student struck in a school zone while crossing Canterbury Street near Whittington Street in South Dearborn, about a five-minute drive from where Joseph hit. High school student Edsel Ford is expected to make a full recovery and the driving force has been arrested.
Dearborn Heights District 7, along with the Westwood and Crestwood School Districts and the Mayor’s Office, has established a Dearborn Heights School Safety Board to evaluate wishes and facilities for protective and preventive measures for the community.
“The loss of a student, and specifically in cases like this, triggers reflection and attention to what can be done to prevent future events from sinking,” said District Superintendent Tyrone Weeks. He added that the district’s resource manager also provides protection presentations to students.
Erik Biggs and his brother, Casey Telfer, grew up in the school district between Dartmouth and Carlysle streets in Dearborn Heights. Casey fatally ran over a truck while riding a big-wheeled bicycle, a plastic youth tricycle, in Pardee in 1980.
He five years; Severe brain damage caused by the blow resulted in his death, Biggs said.
“My parents came in and said, ‘Wait, Casey, we’re going to put on our shoes, we’re going to take a motorcycle ride,’ and my mom said they were in space for 3 seconds,” Biggs told me. When they returned, Casey punched.
When Biggs saw a Facebook post about Joseph Smith’s death in October, he and others commented on the post and asked the town and mayor to install speed bumps and speed restrictions in the area.
“This street (Pardee) is just disgusting,” he said. The explanation for why other people pass so quickly on the street is because it is an artery. When other people try to cross traffic very fast, they fly down this street. “
Biggs and his mother reached out to the city to discuss traffic in the area, but saw little replacement besides more signs of prevention, which Biggs said many drivers are still unaware of.
Pardee Park, which is near where Biggs grew up and where Joseph hit, attracts young people and pedestrians, who, according to Biggs, were also injured in car accidents in the area.
“It’s like Dearborn or Dearborn Heights don’t have to do anything about it,” he said. “There’s a lot of police presence in this domain apart from the schools. “
Biggs is one of thousands of citizens who need the city and local government to replace neighborhood transit policies. A petition called “Joey’s Law” was introduced after his death and won nearly 4,000 signatures calling on the city to install speed bumps and flashing lights to prevent symptoms. in school zones.
The mayor of Dearborn Heights said he is protecting innovations on the neighborhood’s streets.
From 2019 to 2021, 4 twists of fate occurred in Dearborn Heights near Pardee Avenue and Annapolis Street, according to a destination turn report provided by the Transportation Improvement Association (TIA), a company that identifies transportation protection issues.
Bill Bazzi, the city’s mayor, said they are reading protective innovations on neighborhood streets and TIA is assessing the domain where Joseph hit to see what protective measures are most productive for the streets.
“There are many things that need to be studied before doing anything with speed bumps,” he said. “We are looking to other municipalities for the most productive practice. We’re not going to throw anything away if it’s not effective. “
Bazzi said he meets regularly with the school district’s superintendent to “see what we want to do to better serve” residents.
Increased street lighting, brighter prevention symptoms and expanded visibility of crosswalks through vertical streets are some of the features the city and the transit company are discussing, Bazzi said.
“There’s a lot of things we’re in,” he said. Speed bumps in some cities have proven useless because some drivers use speed bumps as ramps or can accelerate on streets without speed bumps, which can cause bigger clutter to close. by residents.
“That’s one of the considerations we have. We don’t need to put anything (on the street) that causes major disturbances to residents,” he said. The time it takes to install or implement security measures depends on the scale of the task. advised through the Transportation Improvement Association, Bazzi said.
“My most sensible priority is safety. We’re doing everything we can,” Bazzi said. “After the incident with the death that we had, immediately, our police leader jumped on him. . . to reunite the team with TIA. “
Jim Santilli, CEO of the road safety company, said in an email that the company conducted an example traffic study, commissioned by the Dearborn Heights police chief, in May on moving a prevention sign and examining an intersection in the city.
The city contacted TIA for additional traffic information and studies, and partnered in August, but prior to the crash that killed Joseph, no screening had been requested there.
In November, a month after the accident, the company’s CTO attended a town hall assembly and assembly at the Dearborn Heights Justice Center on the school’s road safety factor.
TIA subsequently won a request to examine “the tragic twist of fate that claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy,” Santilli said in the email.
“Potential movements come with reviewing the history of the traffic destination turn, conducting a site review to read about traffic and visual distance, gathering information about traffic, and more,” adding that examination of visual distance, pavement markings, and traffic are components of traffic study procedures.
The company will start in January and expects to submit a final report to the city until February. Police Chief Jerrod Hart and Santilli also discussed reviewing school zones in Dearborn Heights, Santilli said. A review is expected to be completed in 2023.
We will be offering a wonderful rate on virtual subscriptions. Click here.
Louis Aguilar contributed to this report.