Tuesday, February 02, 1999
School signs at fatal crash site have limited effect
BY RICHELLE THOMPSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — If the speed limit in front of Warren County Career Center had been 20 mph a year ago, Chris Heitfield thinks his two teen-age friends would not have died.
But on Jan. 7, 1998, the speed limit on the rain-slicked road was 55 mph. A crash “reconstructionist” told au thorities Mr. Heitfield was driving at 66 mph when his truck hydroplaned and crashed into another car. The impact sheared the truck's cab from its axle and bed, and killed Jennifer N. Zimmer and Victoria McCoy, both 17.
A traffic monitoring machine last week in front of the school on Ohio 48 recorded speeds from 20 to 62 mph, Clearcreek Township Police Chief Walter McAlpin said.
That's despite school zone signs erected in October following requests from parents and school administrators to make the road safer, he said. The signs reduce the speed limit from 55 to 20 mph at restricted times — 7:30-8:15 a.m., 10:50-11:15 a.m. and 1:45-2:15 p.m.
“Since it's a school area and everything, (school zone signs) should have been up there way before the accident,” Mr. Heitfield, now 20, said Monday. “I would have gone a lot slower.”
In October, Mr. Heitfield pleaded no contest to charges of two counts of vehicular homicide. He was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service, five years' probation, $2,000 in fines and restricted driving privileges.
This week, Clearcreek officers will hand out warnings “to educate, not alienate the public about the changes,” Chief McAlpin said. Next week, ticketing begins.
“The safety issue is what it boils down to,” Chief McAlpin said. “Our whole intent is for everybody to go home every day.”
Each day, the 750 vocational students are reminded of two peers who didn't make it home. Students planted a tree and placed a memorial plaque near the school parking lot, said Vince Roessner, superintendent of the career center.
“We're very pleased to have the school zone signs,” he said. “It's about being safe, and that makes us a safer campus.”
Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Scott Borden said simply erecting a sign doesn't mean people will comply with the new speed limit. However, he said, it will at least make drivers more aware.
“Any time you reduce the speed, you reduce the impact of an accident,” Lt. Borden said. “If the two vehicles (last year) were both going 20 mph, there's a likely possibility that the injuries would have been less.”
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