Neighborhood At Scene Of Fatal Auto-Ped Want A Boost In Traffic Safety

Wednesday, May 30th 2007, 8:17 pm

By: News On 6

Family members aren't the only ones upset about the death of 6-year-old Jessalyn Sanders, the young girl who was hit and killed by a truck on Tuesday. On Wednesday, neighbors set up a makeshift memorial as a sign of support, but one woman isn't stopping there. She wants one of two things, either stop signs or speed bumps, but News On 6 anchor Latoya Silmon reports getting them won't be easy.

Like many people who live in this neighborhood, Laurie Sumrall is grieving.

â€œI was just so sad. I cried. I did,â€ said Sumrall.

But Sumrall says she's not surprised that someone ran over one of her 6-year-old neighbors.

â€œThe speed limit on Independence is 30 miles an hour,â€ Sumrall said. â€œPeople speed. I've almost been hit, road rage. People on your rear, the rear of my car. So it's bad. It's really bad.â€

It's a problem police recognize too. In fact, the day after the girl was killed they sat outside the neighborhood, and in just one hour they handed out eight speeding tickets.

"Unfortunately what you see is people will avoid Admiral,â€ said Tulsa Police Corporal David Crow. â€œThey will avoid Pine, and come down Independence because there's nothing to slow them down, except us."

But Crow says it's impossible for them to police the area every day. If Sumrall gets her way, they won't have to.

â€œNot too long ago, I called the mayor's hotline to see if we could even get some posters that would say 'slow children at play',â€ said Sumrall. â€œI never heard anything.â€

Now she wants to see speed bumps or stop signs along Independence.

"They're here 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Those two things will mediate people's speed when we can't," Crow said.

Corporal Crow says it takes more than one complaint for Sumrall to get what she wants. He says it will likely take a community effort and appeals to city council to get speed bumps or stop signs on that street. We talked to public works on Wednesday, and they said they've never had any complaints filed with them.

Watch the video: Neighborhood Pushing For Safety Changes

Related Stories:

05/30/2007 Family Of Girl Killed In Auto-Ped Accident Struggling To Cope

05/30/2007 Victim In Fatal Auto-Pedestrian Accident Identified

05/29/2007 6-Year-Old Killed In Traffic Accident