KETTERING — State lawmakers have introduced a new bill, which they say a News Center 7 I-Team investigation prompted.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, the new plan at the statehouse is supposed to better protect crossing guards and children.
>>RELATED: I-TEAM: Former crossing guard hit by car reacts to proposed bill with harsher penalties
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“I’d like to also thank the New Center 7 I-Team’s John Bedell, who helped us initiate this legislation on their national coverage of crossing guard accidents and fatalities,” State Representative Tom Young (R-Washington Township) said.
In October, the I-Team’s initial investigation found hundreds of crossing guards were badly injured or even killed on the job.
>>RELATED: Crossing guards face life-threatening dangers on the job
Just about four months later, state lawmakers hope to make changes.
News Center 7’s John Bedell talked to Kettering Police Department Chief Chip Protsman about several crashes involving pedestrians, or near misses, at crosswalks in school zones.
The city and police department are working with the school district to reduce those.
That’s the same goal behind the new bill.
Miami Valley state lawmakers talked about a new legislative plan on Tuesday.
“This bill is a school safety bill,” Young said.
It’s aimed at better protecting crossing guards and children while on their way to and from school.
“It’s not okay to disregard someone who’s just trying to keep kids safe,” State Representative Andrea White (R-Kettering) said.
The bill would toughen criminal penalties for people who do not obey a school crossing guard’s traffic orders. That would become a minor misdemeanor.
So would harassing, intimidating, or interfering with a crossing guard while they’re performing their official duties.
The bill would also double the fine if the offender is in an active school zone during the violation.
“It gives officers another tool to ensure that drivers are held accountable for what they’re doing, and it ensures the safety of pedestrians, both crossing guards and our children,” Kettering Police Chief Chip Protsman said.
The state representatives told the I-Team they drafted the bill in direct response to its investigation.
“WHIO has run a couple stories with their national partners on this,” Young said.
In News Center 7’s original report, the I-Team got with our sister stations around the country and the Associated Press for a months-long investigation.
The I-Team documented more than 225 crossing guard accidents in the last decade.
They got hold of law enforcement records in 180 of the cases.
The investigation found that 74% of those drivers who hit crossing guards got away with just traffic tickets, or not even that.
Aside from the new bill in Ohio, the investigation has also now prompted the promise of legislation at Pennsylvania’s Capitol and the Florida statehouse.
“Anything that’s going to be crossing guard safer is going to make any pedestrian out there safer as well. So I definitely think that there’s more that we can do in that space,” State Representative Rita Harris (D-Orlando, Florida) said.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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