6-Year-Old Killed Crossing Street to School Bus Stop
The crash scene. From WTAE.
On the morning of February 24 in North Belle Vernon, 6-year-old Aria Woznick left for school with her older siblings. According to police, she walked out of her house, reached the sidewalk on Fayette Street, started to cross, and was hit by the driver of a car. Parents did their best to help before a helicopter could arrive to take her to UPMC Children’s Hospital, where she died. A family friend has set up a GoFundMe to help cover funeral costs.
The crash happened on Fayette Street between Vernon Street and Spruce Alley. The street has one 12-foot travel lane in each direction. Where the crash occurred the speed limit is 25 miles per hour, but roughly 100 feet to the east it goes up to 35. It is not a busy street, averaging just over 5,600 cars per day. In the mile between Broad Avenue and Washington Road, there isn’t a single stop sign or crosswalk.
Neighbors have suggested several interventions. "It makes me angry, honestly it does, because there's a lot of stuff you can do to prevent his stuff," said Buddy Blackburn, who witnessed the crash and rushed over to help. "Stop signs, speed limits, watch out for children, there's a lot of kids around here."
"It would be great for Rostraver Township or North Belle Vernon or both to put signs on either side of where they cross that says, 'slow down, children crossing' or maybe even put one with the lights since ... there's usually a lot of people right here waiting for the bus or waiting for their children to get off the bus," said Mary Kay Glunt, pastor at First Presbyterian Church, located a few hundred feet east of where the crash happened.
They are both right, in that the most basic and essential way to calm traffic here would be things everyone is familiar with: stop signs and crosswalks. Adding stop signs to the nearby intersections at Vernon Street and Price Street would keep cars from being able to build up speed, and striping these intersections with crosswalks would provide a safe crossing that doesn’t exist today.
Bus bulb. From NACTO.
Other measures could also calm traffic on this stretch of street. Narrowing the travel lanes from 12 feet to ten would encourage slower driving. This could be done in the short term by painting the lanes narrower, and in the long term could be made more effective by moving the cub lines to narrow the roadway and widen the sidewalks. Another alternative would be to create a bus bulb at the school bus stop. Bus bulbs create a safe place for people to wait for the bus, can shorten crosswalk distances, and can contribute to traffic calming and safer speeds.
State Representative Eric Davanzo has been aware of and working on the crash since the 24th. While his staff says he is waiting on the final police report from the North Belle Vernon Public Safety Department, they are hoping to organize a “roundtable” with the Borough, the school district, PennDOT, and other interested parties.
Fayette Street is owned by PennDOT District 12. You can reach them for comments here. For political support, please contact North Belle Vernon Borough here, the Westmoreland County Board of Commissioners here, State Representative Eric Davanzo here, and State Senator Kim Ward here.