MIAMI VALLEY — A woman who was working as a crossing guard in the Miami Valley was badly injured after a car hit her.
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She shared her story with News Center 7’s I-Team, John Bedell, hoping it would prompt change. Today, she learned it has.
“I am absolutely ecstatic to see it happen,” Becky Evans, of Franklin, said.
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Evans was one of the hundreds of people News Center 7’s I-Team found who were seriously hurt or even killed in crosswalks on the job.
Many of them said they felt disregarded.
“How’s your recovery going? How are you doing?” Bedell asked.
“It’s slow, the speech is getting better, and mentally I’m still having PTSD where I cannot go out to the road,” Evans said.
She suffered head and leg injuries when a driver hit her while she was working as a crossing guard in front of Franklin Junior High last year.
Now, she works as a janitor for the district.
“I’m having trouble with my knee and my walking, and my balance. But I’m not gonna let it get to me. I’m going to get better. One day at a time, I’m getting there,” Evans said.
As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, the driver who hit Evans got a traffic citation and a fine.
Evans said she wants tougher state laws.
“They should be penalized for it, and a $48 fine is just a slap in the face,” Evans said.
On Tuesday, News Center 7’s John Bedell talked to Miami Valley state lawmakers about a new bill.
State representatives Tom Young (R-Washington Township) and Andrew White (R-Kettering) have told the I-Team they drafted the bill in direct response to an I-Team Investigation done in partnership with our sister stations around the country and the Associated Press.
The bill would toughen criminal penalties for people who do not obey a school cross guard’s traffic order.
It would also increase consequences in court for harassing, intimidating, or interfering with a crossing guard while they’re performing their official duties.
Which is why Bedell’s first stop after the statehouse was Evans’ house.
“I’m thrilled that somebody, especially with you putting the show out there, the story out there, and then they actually seen it and they wanted to do something about it, I’m thrilled,” Evans said.
Since the bill has been introduced in the Ohio House, the next step is for it to get a committee assignment.
Representatives Young and White said the goal is to get the bill to Governor DeWine’s desk by the end of the year.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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