LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. – School bus stop safety was already being discussed in Lehigh Acres – even before Friday’s accident.
“Never go too close to the road, stay as far back as possible,” said Mariah Foster, who will tell her children on Monday as they wait for the bus.
Last week, Lehigh Acres community correspondent Ella Rhoades spoke with her about how grateful she was to her neighbors who mowed the lawns at several bus stops in Lehigh.
They even mowed down the stop at Columbus Boulevard and Ermine Street where a car hit a child Friday morning.
Watch Lehigh Acres community correspondent Ella Rhoades’ report below:
“It’s just heartbreaking,” Lehigh wants safer bus stops for its children
“They just blocked off the bus stops and everyone was so excited and thought that now the kids would have a safe place to hang out and wouldn’t be as at risk as they were before. It’s just heartbreaking,” Foster said.
The Lee County School District issued the following statement to Fox 4 last week:
“Our bus stops are located on public land, so the responsibility for maintaining the property lies with the property owner… All of our bus stops meet or exceed state standards to be considered safe.”
Lee County School District
Foster said she felt the school district was not taking her and other parents’ concerns into account.
“It’s not really their problem and there’s not much they can do about it, or so they say. They say the bus stops are private property, but all our kids go there,” she said.
This has been a problem in Lee County for years.
In 2019, eight-year-old Layla Aiken died in Cape Coral when she was hit by a car while waiting for the bus.
Layla and her brother were sitting on the ground next to the road.
After her death, people across the country raised money to purchase picnic benches for school bus stops.
Foster believes sidewalks are the real solution.
“How do we take the necessary steps, because many people feel we need them?” she said.
