Crossing the street to go to school and work shouldn’t be dangerous for pedestrians but the experiences of students and staff prove otherwise. Everyday, a battle between hasty drivers and cautious pedestrians arises on East Tremont Avenue.
Right in front of the Lehman campus, cars come off of the highway and onto East Tremont avenue, a prominent thoroughfare in the neighborhood.
Jovani Almonte, the ninth grade counselor, believes that many drivers are “reckless and careless.”
“They speed up as soon as they see that the light changes to yellow to not have to wait for the light to go green again,” he said.
“The other day, the light had changed from green to yellow, and then to red. As I started crossing, some idiot decided to speed, not caring that I, and others, were crossing the street,” Mr. Almonte said. “He made sure that he sped enough to prevent us from crossing and we had to wait until he passed by to cross the street.”
“My main worry is about you all that are crossing the street, and young kids as well, or maybe the elderly that don’t have the same reflexes as we do,” Mr. Almonte said.
“When I first started working here, I would drive here, but for the past two years I’ve been walking here. When I drove here, I wouldn’t go by that area, so now that I’m walking I have to cross over to this side and I see what’s going on.”
Mr. Almonte thinks that some solutions could be “a red light camera or installing speed bumps there as well. Maybe having a crossing guard too, but that’s really about it in terms of prevention. It will definitely make these drivers think two or three times before speeding.”
“This is not just to prevent accidents from happening, but also fatalities. Not only do you have adults and staff members crossing the street, but you also have students and kids that are walking to cross the street and get to the bus stop,” he said. “They’re not taking things into consideration. This will prevent them from speeding and fatally hitting a pedestrian,” he said.
Mr. Almonte suggests that people use the button on the light switch to get the traffic light to turn red faster.
Kyana Valerie, a junior, has almost gotten hit in front of the school multiple times.
“It was my light to walk and the light was red for the car, but the car kept driving even though I was crossing the road,” she said. “I almost got hit by people on the scooters too because they just swerved around me and almost hit me at a red light. They just drive, they don’t care even if they see elders or kids, they just keep driving because they have places to be” she added.
“I’ve noticed this in other communities around other schools too. There’s a lot of kids roaming around, so it’s much more dangerous than it would be in a regular area,” Kyana said.
Anna Jack, an earth science teacher, has dealt with rash drivers on multiple occasions.
“Directly in front of the school, two or three times I’ve seen cars blow through the red and yellow lights, especially where the diner is. People coming off of the highway, when they’re turning, they sometimes don’t stop,” she said.
“I almost got hit, I had to hit the hood of someone’s car and I cursed them out because come on, you don’t see people walking here?,” Ms. Jack said. “I’ve definitely seen students and other staff members from other schools almost get hit,” she said.
Ms. Jack isn’t sure if the traffic lights have a red light and a speeding camera, even though they should. “Those are the only things that would save it, a crossing guard would be nice but this isn’t an elementary school,” she said.
Aye Bah, the college advisor, believes that the crosswalk light changes too fast, so people don’t get the opportunity to cross.
“No one can walk that fast, so students are usually running across the street. It’s right across from a high school, the least they can do is have a crossing guard, but I usually only see them at elementary schools,” she said. “Crossing the street from Shah’s onto the 40/42 bus stop is really dangerous too. There are too many intersections, they’re all very busy and there’s not enough time to cross the street.”
“Because our school is right next to so many exits and comes off the highway, drivers are still in that highway mindset where they’re zooming. The closer they are to the exit, the closer they probably are to their destination. They’re not paying attention to the students crossing the street,” Ms. Bah said.
Assistant principal Tene Kelly hasn’t experienced anything unordinary at the crosswalk, but she has noticed a pattern. “I think the safety at these intersections is what prompted the new crosswalk by Dunkin’. It continues to be a dangerous crosswalk because of the amount of students who use it everyday and the impatience of drivers,” she said.
