TRENTON, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Trenton woman is speaking out hoping for change after her son was hit by a car while riding his bike home from school.
The accident happened at the intersection of Marian and Longmeadow. Ethan, 11, was riding his bike home when suddenly he was hit by a car that left him lying on the road.
"His first words were he’s OK, don’t freak out," said Ethan's mother Rachel Judd after finding out her son was hit by a car.
Rachel says she was frantic when she got the call on Oct. 22. The boy was on his way home from Boyd W. Arthurs Middle School in Trenton.
"They said that he was conscious and he didn’t remember what had happened but they thought he was going to be OK and I was still in a panic mode," Judd said.
She says her son Ethan suffered a concussion and bruising. Ethan says he doesn’t remember much about that day.
"I was riding my bike across the street and the last thing I remember was the car hitting me," the boy said.
Since the accident, Rachel is asking for something to be done. I spoke with the Trenton Public School superintendent over the phone about the incident and what the district plans to do moving forward.
"Some of the things we’re looking at doing," said Superintendent Rodney Wakeham. "We do have patterns in and around our buildings and what we would like to be able to do is educate our community on those traffic patterns and get help in making everybody safe,"
Rachel says she was told students who live outside the 1.5 mile radius of the school are provided with bus services. She says she was told that’s the districts policy. Rachel lives just under the one and a half mile radius, so Ethan must walk or bike to school.
Rachel says she’s thankful her son is OK, and that she and Ethan are hoping something will be done in the future.
"Maybe try to get a bus stop near where almost all the kids are and out a crossing guard around there," Ethan said.
"A lot of Moms are looking to me and reaching out to me. They’ve been trying to install some kind of a policy for years. Petitions have gone around so it’s, it’s time," Rachel said.
She says the school did make an exception for her son after the accident. He now walks a couple of blocks from his home to catch the bus, but says if the bus fills up with students, Rachel gets a two week notice and Ethan must then again walk or ride his bike to school.
