WASHINGTON – The recent death of a teen girl while she crossed the street in Germantown, Md. has some asking what can be done to prevent another pedestrian fatality.
Christina Morris-Ward, 15, was headed to school at 7:25 in the morning last month when she was killed while crossing Germantown Road/Roue 118 near Seneca Valley High School.
While the incident remains under investigation, Morris-Ward’s death underscores a need to for students to take extra care.
Now, Blair High School students in Silver Spring, Md. are helping out. The students modeled for a public safety campaign that plastered images of their eyes on buses with the message, “Hey You, I’m Looking at You.”
Like Seneca Valley High School, Blair is at a busy crossroad. Blair High School principal Renay Johnson is proud of her students.
“It’s very important and I’m so pleased to have the eyes of Blair students on all the buses, to continue the awareness of this important cause,” says Johnson.
Fortunately, the fatality numbers in Montgomery County do show a steady downward trend. In 2006 there were 18 pedestrians killed on county roads. This have been four this year.
In addition, Johnson says the focus on pedestrian safety is helping her students, “to have more awareness about their surroundings, not to wear so many dark clothes, to take the earbuds out their ear, follow the traffic lights and walk in the crosswalk.”
It’s very important and I’m so pleased to have the eyes of Blair students on all the buses, to continue the awareness of this important cause.”
Find more traffic safety tips and statistics from the project here.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
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