By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Jaime Langston and Tavia Swain have seen one accident too many at the intersection of Holmes-Center and Co. Rd. 330. They have no intention of going away until something is done about it.
The two women who have children in the Wynford School District are leading the charge to get a traffic light installed at that intersection after Langston’s daughter was recently involved in an accident there in December.
Langston said, “That was the accident that started it all.”
They are direct and to the point when asked what they want done to reduce accidents and increase traffic safety where literally hundreds of students from grades K through 12 are transported to school every day.
“We’re trying to get a traffic light,” Swain said.
Langston was even more specific: “A red, yellow, green light – one that works.”
“I mean nobody ever wants to get that call. Even knowing that she was OK and pulling up to that accident, seeing how bad her car was – it makes you sick to your stomach,” Langston said. “You don’t want any other kid or adult in an accident there. I mean she could have been killed – you think, ‘what if, what if.’ The next one they might not be OK.”
The women have met with Crawford County Commissioners and will meet with the Wynford school board. So far they haven’t run into any official who is opposed to what they want.
“They seem to be cooperative. They seem to like it,” Swain said of meeting with the commissioners and County Engineer Mark Baker. “But we’re not going to stop.”
Other options suggested by Baker and the commissioners include lowering the speed limit through the intersection and building another access road onto the Wynford campus.
“Getting hit at 20 miles per hour is definitely better than getting hit at 55,” Swain said.
The ultimate would be to get the intersection officially declared a school zone.
“If you can get it to be a school zone, that itself warrants a traffic light,” Langston said. “Getting both, that would be terrific.”
The women will meet with the Wynford school board and again with the county commissioners. In addition, they are seeking to bring attention to the issue at the state level with a petition drive. That petition can be signed electronically at www.usign.org by typing in “traffic light at Wynford,” or on the Facebook page, Put Up a Stop Light at Wynford. There are also petitions at Bucyrus-area restaurants.
To raise awareness, T-shirts promoting the campaign are being sold at Vasil’s.