From our neighbors in Pinecrest:
For those who have not yet heard, Josh Lawton, a 14 year that lives in the Pinecrest neighborhood, was hit by a car while walking on the middle of the crosswalk on the way to an after-school event on Tuesday.  The driver is a parent who was admittedly distracted by a child in the back of the car.  She took the turn off of O'Neal and onto the school road at a speed fast enough to lift Josh off of the ground and toss him.  As a result he has multiple non-life threatening injuries including a few possible broken bones and is currently displaying symptoms consistent with a concussion. We are hoping and praying that Josh continues to recover from his injuries at a rapid pace.
People have expressed their disappointment over the years for the lack of proper safety mechanisms in place for walkers. This lack of proper crosswalks, signage, crossing guards, etc has unfortunately, now been realized.
Several from the neighborhood have taken action and have put together the Leesville Safety Task Force. We are hoping, with community support, we will be able to get improvements made that will make our school walkways and neighborhoods safe for everyone.
If you are interested in being a part of this group, or being kept informed as to what we are doing, please email leesvillesafety@gmail.com. We are currently working with the City of Raleigh Transportation Planning division toward a grant to begin making these changes. We will be hosting a community meeting soon to discuss this grant and get feedback on what changes (for the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians) we would like to see in this area. We will distribute information as it becomes available.
Please pass this information to those who you feel may be interested. We hope everyone in the Leesville area will want to be a part of this effort - we want all bicyclists and pedestrians to be safe!
Thanks,
Charmane Dail, Diane Michaud, Liz Taylor, Cindy Oertel