SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A resident concerned about children’s safety at a busy San Carlos intersection where a 12-year-old boy was killed Monday warned the City of San Diego more than a year ago that the crossing was dangerous and requested safety improvements.
“I feel like a little bit of a failure in that, you know, my efforts didn't create the change that was needed to prevent the tragic accident,” said Shannon Smith in an interview with ABC 10News anchor Max Goldwasser.
Andrew Olsen, 12, died after being struck by a Honda driver around 7:21 a.m. Monday on Jackson Drive and Lake Badin Avenue in San Carlos.
Residents who live in the area told ABC 10News they’ve complained to the city about the intersection, which many students use to walk to Pershing Middle School.
The intersection is not a formal crosswalk. It has a posted speed limit of 40 miles per hour and doesn’t have stop signs, crosswalk lights, speed bumps, or signage to indicate children may be crossing.
Smith asked the city to improve safety at the intersection several times, including last April and again this March, over email when he asked the city to paint crosswalk markings.
'No action is warranted'
“I recently witnessed a middle school girl stranded in the center section as waves of cars buzzed past her from both directions at speeds well over the 40 MPH limit. The cars would (not) stop for her because there are no crosswalks painted,” he wrote.
San Diego police say the driver who hit Olsen and his two siblings, who were rushed to the hospital in critical condition, stayed on the scene and tried to perform CPR on the 12-year-old.
The driver didn’t see the students, police said, adding alcohol and speed were not considered contributing factors.
Smith said he heard the deadly crash from his house and knew something terrible had happened.
“It didn't sound like a normal car crash because we've heard plenty of car crashes over the 12 years.”
He said he’s angry the City of San Diego failed to act on his pleas to improve the intersection.
When the city’s engineering department closed his Get It Done request last year, asking for the road to be painted with crosswalk markings, the city said it had evaluated the intersection and determined “no action is warranted at this time because it meets city standards.”
“Those safety standards got three kids run over today, one of which died and in my opinion, it was completely preventable. If there was a crosswalk, if there was a stop sign, if there was a flashing indicator that pedestrians could press a button like in other areas of the city, those kids would probably not have gotten run over.”
Emails show that last August, a city engineer submitted a request for a traffic calming study, which was expected to take up to 90 days to complete.
In November, Smith followed up by asking what the results were of the study. He said he never got a response.
“I'm not asking the city to spend millions to make this intersection safer. There are solutions that are low-cost,” he said.
We asked the city for comment Tuesday morning, but did not receive a response by press deadline.
