Pocono News Section

State Looks to Improve Safety as School Mourns Loss

State Looks to Improve Safety as School Mourns Loss - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 6:00PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 @ 06:00pm EST
BEAR CREEK TWP., LUZERNE COUNTY -- The numbers tell a tragic story. Three violent crashes. Two people killed. All on Route 115 in Bear Creek Township. And all in less than a week.

Now state lawmakers are pushing for prevention. Today, action is underway to put the brakes on future crashes and hopefully safe lives.

State lawmakers and PennDOT held a conference call Wednesday to talk about what can be done now and in the future to prevent crashes and save lives on Route 115. This comes as the Bear Creek Community Charter School mourns the loss of one of its own, killed last night near the school.

Eyewitness News stopped by the crash site Wednesday afternoon. We witnessed car after car speeding on Route 115 in Bear Creek Township. PennDOT installed radar detection signs trying to get drivers to slow down. One car was clocked at 76 MPH. The speed limit is 50 MPH.

It is speed that is the major problem according to parents of students at the nearby Bear Creek Community Charter School. Parents and faculty tell Eyewitness News they know the kids are safe while in school, but coming to and from the school is a different story. They just want drivers to slow down.

Persephone LeeÕs daughter attends the school. "Just coming up to pick up my daughter, the cars are just speeding up and down the hill. I don't know if it can happen, maybe speed bumps on the road? ItÕs just terrible."

Three crashes near here in the last 8 days. The most recent Tuesday night killed 45-year-old Kimberly Biggs-Keil, one of the founding parents of the Bear Creek Community Charter School. Another crash last week injured a mother and her son who had just left the school

Eyewitness News found the school community coping as best they could Wednesday. School CEO Jim Smith said, "Kim was a very purpose driven individual, did what had to be done, said what had to be said. She did it for all the right reasons. She was always working for the cause of the less fortunate."

Chief Academic Officer Margaret Foster said, "We have counselors on staff from a local agency that will help us and have been here all day. They met with both staff and students throughout the day. The other important thing is to maintain as much normalcy as possible."

State lawmakers want PennDOT to study that part of Route 115 and make some recommendations as to what can be done to make it safer. That report is due by the end of January. In the meantime state police say they will increase patrols.