The improvements will be completed over a stage of several years, with the first stage being stepping up enforcement with a new zero tolerance policy.    

“The goal of the program is to get people to voluntarily comply with the law in the most dangerous locations, [called] High Incident Areas,” said captain Thomas Didone of the Montgomery County Traffic Division. “We know that warnings have helped the problem but not convinced enough people to comply with the law, so we are optimistic that the citations will be more effective in changing behavior.”  

Jaywalking is crossing a street at a place other than a regular crossing, which some students choose to do for convenience.   

“I choose to jaywalk because sometimes I’m impatient,” sophomore Christina Reese said. “It’s worth the risk because I have good judgment. If there is a cop around I won’t.” 

The new program will only be in effect in a few crucial areas.  

“This new initiative will be focusing only in high incident and complain areas and is not a countywide crackdown,” Didone said. “That being said, an officer has complete discretion or authority to give a citation to any violation that they see.”

Students caught jaywalking will receive a ticket no matter their age. 

“High school students will be treated like adults and given citations,” Didone said. “We will continue to give small children warning, lectures and/or speak to their parents.”

This new policy may come as a shock since according to the August Montgomery County Pedestrian Safety Initiative Update, pedestrian fatalities have dropped in the past few years. 

“I don’t think that Montgomery County needs to update the way they handle pedestrian safety,” freshman Burke Niner said. “They already have safety measures in place, and it’s pedestrians’ fault if they choose not to use them.”

Montgomery County spent a total of $532,000 on pedestrian safety in the fiscal year of 2011 on education, enforcement, engineering and construction.  With the budget for the fiscal year of 2012 being $1,325,000, more improvements are expected.  The changes promoting pedestrian safety could also improve the mood of drivers.

“It’s better to stop for jaywalkers than hit them,” senior Hannah Lewis said. “But it is annoying when someone just cuts in front of you.”

Ironically, the incident occurred just two weeks after the administration requested that Montgomery County police officers be positioned on Gainsborough and Victory to curb dangerous behavior occurring during student drop-offs.

 “I also put out a “Bulldog Blips” stating to parents that [it is] an unsafe situation to drop off [on Gainsborough and Victory] and [that] there will be police monitoring drop-off,” Principal Joan Benz said.

According to Lieutenant John Hack, the police department had received numerous requests, including one from CHS administration, that student drop-off was becoming dangerous and should be supervised by the police.

“There were complaints from parents about safety, about speeding drivers [and] parents dropping their kids off in the middle of the road,” Hack said.

The student, who received a citation for jaywalking, was taken to the hospital via ambulance after the collision, but returned to school later in the day.

“A student witnessed [the accident] and called 911 immediately from his phone,” security team leader Terry Bell said. “He was excellent and reacted the way common citizens should [in an emergency].”

Several individuals came onto the scene shortly after the accident, including a security guard, the school nurse, the student’s mother and a police officer who happened to be stationed nearby ticketing cars that had stopped illegally.

Many students and parents feel that the only legal carpool lane, situated just off of Victory Lane, has become too congested.  However, according to Benz, due to CHS’ proximity to the surrounding neighborhoods and senior and staff parking lots, it would be nearly impossible to redesign or build a new carpool lane.

“We can always look at putting in more crosswalks near the football stadium, but we are really bound by our closeness to the neighborhood,” Benz said.