'Culture change' needed to combat Palm Bay school crashes

After a string of fatal crashes and near-misses, officials from Brevard County's bicycle and pedestrian education program say it's going to take a "culture change" to reverse the recent uptick in school zone accidents. 

That's because many of the accidents have involved distracted drivers, "and no amount of signage is going to help that," said Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization coordinator Kim Smith. "You can put up all the signs you want, but if they're on the phone looking down in their car and they don't see it, it doesn't do any good."

Two separate accidents Thursday at Discovery Elementary and Odyssey Charter School in Palm Bay — which put a 12-year-old boy in the hospital and left a father and his 5-year-old son with minor injuries — once again ignited questions about what the city, county and schools are doing to keep students safe. 

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The accidents come in the middle of the county's Transportation Planning Organization's years-long efforts to educate drivers and pedestrians.

Under Smith, a handful of programs help pay for bike racks at schools, teach students how to safely walk and bike to school, encourage parents to set a good example in the car loop, and partner with law enforcement to patrol areas with high rates of pedestrian accidents. Her department also organizes Walk to School Day and helmet-fittings at low-income schools. 

Monday morning, Smith and her team were at the Head Start preschool facility in Palm Bay to educate 3-year-olds about pedestrian and bike safety. As part of the federally funded preschool program, which targets low-income families, Smith will reach all 624 of Brevard's Head Start students over the next few weeks.

"Some of these students are walking and riding the bus to school, so they need to know those basic skills," Smith said after showing the class a cartoon video that teaches safety through song. 

The city of Palm Bay has already hired five more crossing guards, installed 10 signs reminding drivers not to text while driving and has allocated $133,000 to install better school zone signs with flashing lights at private and charter schools within the city, said Palm Bay police department spokesman Mike Bandish. 

Monday morning, two additional crossing guards were at Odyssey Charter, where a father and son were struck Thursday while using the cross walk. They were hit not too far from a memorial for Ander Grooms, a 10-year-old boy who was hit and killed while biking home from school in April. 

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A fourth crossing guard has also been added just outside the school zone at Discovery Elementary, where a driver hit a 12-year-old boy Thursday before speeding off. Again, the accident was a stone's throw away from a memorial for Jasmine Monari, a 17-year-old who was hit and killed walking home from school in January.

More crossing guards and signs will certainly help improve safety around schools, but Smith says "it's going to take a lot of work to change the culture." Only hours after the hit-and-run at Discovery on Thursday, for example, parents in the line to pick up kids were texting and talking on their cellphones. 

Smith is now working to supply schools with "put it down" banners to display in their car loops. Some schools have already put up signs reminding parents to set a good example.

"It's going to take engineering, enforcement and education," said Abby Rex, a spokeswoman for the TPO, referring to the need for better infrastructure, heightened police presence and educational opportunities for kids and adults to learn the rules of the road. 

The TPO has a hand in the Florida Department of Transportation's Safe Routes to Schools program, which pays for new or improved sidewalks, crosswalks, bicycle racks, ramps and signs at selected schools. In Palm Bay, Christa McAuliffe, Port Malabar, Columbia, Discovery and Jupiter elementaries benefited from the program. 

On the law enforcement side, the TPO also encourages local agencies to apply for a grant through the FDOT that pays for officers to work overtime patrolling areas with high numbers of bicycle and pedestrian accidents. To date, the TPO has partnered with 14 of Brevard's police agencies to address safety issues. 

Going forward, the city of Palm Bay has the money to hire five more crossing guards and install $133,000 worth of school zone signs with flashing lights at private and charter schools.

Bandish wasn't sure when those signs would be purchased, but emphasized that more signs isn't the magical solution to the problem.

"You can put up as many signs as you want, but these last two accidents were drivers strictly not paying attention," he said. At Odyssey Charter, for example, the 5-year-old boy was walking with his dad in a crosswalk while a police car sat nearby. 

"There's no answer to solve it," Bandish said. "People have to pay more attention."

Caroline Glenn is the Education Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact her at caglenn@floridatoday.com or 321-576-5933, or follow her on Twitter @bycarolineglenn and like "Education at Florida Today" on Facebook.