Crosswalk with flashing lights installed near bus stop 6 months after Largo teen killed on way to school
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - On Wednesday, a crosswalk with flashing lights was installed down the street from where a Largo teen was hit and killed while walking to his school bus stop six months ago.
Ethan Weiser was hit and killed by a car in August crossing Belleair Road. Since his death, Weiser’s family has been fighting to make the area safer for pedestrians.
At the School Transportation Safety Committee meeting in Pinellas County in October, the county’s transportation director said they were working with the school board and the transportation staff to evaluate options for crossing locations along Belleair Road.
"Getting the crosswalk was the first step in that process and our goal since the accident is that this doesn’t happen to someone else, that another family is not impacted," Matt Croasmun, Weiser’s uncle, said.
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Croasmun spoke to the Committee at its October meeting about ways to make the road safer. He spoke again at Wednesday’s meeting.
A sign asking drivers to watch for pedestrians in honor of Ethan Weiser.
Croasmun said while he’s grateful for the crosswalk, he wishes it came sooner. He said seeing city leaders in Lake Wales install a streetlight at a bus stop where another teen was killed in February a little more than a week later frustrates him that the crosswalk took much longer.
"We’re not going to let the frustrations, we’re not going to let the roadblocks stop us from having the conversations that we need to have and understand that the infrastructure in that other location is a little bit smaller, maybe easier to manage, so we don’t let it derail the conversation," he said.
"We don’t let it take us off the point and the point is that we need safer access to bus stops. We need safer bus stops, and we need the state, the county and the cities to be a part of that with the school boards," Croasmun said.
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Croasmun said he and his family do understand, though, that projects take time.
A memorial to Ethan Weiser.
"The fact that it took this long is frustrating, but I think it’s also important that things take time, and we want to do it the right way, and it also speaks to how important it is to make sure that you follow up and continue on if there’s an action that needs to happen, you need to do the right thing and keep on having the talks so that way you can get the actions that you’re looking for," he said.
Chelsea Favero, a planning manager at Forward Pinellas, which is part of the committee, said she understands Croasmun’s frustration.
"The fact that these things take time is incredibly frustrating. As a government employee, I hear you, but things take time for a reason, and we need to make sure that we’re doing it right, and we’re not opening it up, so another child gets hurt or God forbid killed in the future," she said. "We need to get it done right the first time," Favero said.
File image of students getting on a school bus.
At the meeting Wednesday, the committee asked Forward Pinellas to look into more safety improvements, like streetlights, at all 8,000 bus stops across the county. They’ll discuss Forward Pinellas’ findings at the next committee meeting in May.
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"We really need to come up with a process to identify which of the highest priority ones to move forward with in terms of identifying infrastructure investments at those stops," Favero said.
The School Transportation Safety Committee meets.
The discussion about those improvements, specifically streetlights at Weiser’s bus stop, got spirited at times. When Weiser crossed the street that August morning, it was completely dark.
Tarpon Springs Commissioner Mike Eisner said he wouldn’t come to the next meeting if there wasn’t a plan to add streetlights on Belleair Road, saying it would be a waste of time.
Croasmun said he’s also pushing for streetlights to be added to Belleair Road.
"If you pull up a satellite image of your bus stop, and you can’t see it, that’s a spot you need to go check," Croasmun said.
A crosswalk with lights is now up near where a teenager was killed walking to the school bus stop.
Favero, who has children in the school system, said it’s also important to continue community outreach and inform students, parents, and people in the community about safety around buses and bus stops. She said Forward Pinellas is also working with the district to release several safety videos to the public about school bus safety and how to safely get to and from the bus.
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"Nothing we’re going to do is going to bring Ethan back, but what we want to do is prevent another Ethan. We want to prevent another situation. We want to prevent the near misses. We want to create a safe space for these students to cross the street and then the splash effect of that is that pedestrians can utilize those same things when they’re not going to school," Croasmun said.
Ethan Weiser was killed while walking to his school bus stop.
He said he and his family are hopeful more safety improvements are on the way across the area and that the crosswalk is a good first step.
"Unfortunately, we’ve had to put a face to a situation, and point-blank is we never considered bus stops and getting to bus stops. That wasn’t on our priority list. It was do your homework and turning in your stuff and getting your driver’s license and getting a job," he said.
The committee also talked about looking into how to utilize the app See Click Fix where people can report issues they see along bus routes, at schools, and more. They also voted to support a few state bills, including one that would ensure middle school starts no earlier than eight a.m., and high school starts no earlier than 8:30 a.m.