HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A 12-year-old child was hit inside a crosswalk while walking to Barrington Middle School on Tuesday morning. The boy is expected to be okay.
A spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says the student was alert and talking, but was transported to an area hospital.
The crosswalk is the same area ABC Action News told you about in 2017, as kids played a game of Frogger to try and cross busy Boyette Road.
The student hit in a crosswalk shows the urgent request from county leaders to put crossing guards at all middle schools in Hillsborough County.
RELATED: County making major safety updates near Riverview middle school, includes adding crosswalks
Hillsborough County commissioner Stacy White and Sheriff Chad Chronister have said they are committed to trying to expand crossing guards at middle schools.
The sheriff's office is currently doing a feasibility study to see how much it would cost.
Meanwhile, parents at another middle school in Hillsborough County are not waiting another day without a crossing guard.
Parents at Rodgers Middle School off McMullen Road held a private fundraiser to raise money to hire a private company, The Crossing Guard.
Rogers is now the second school with crossing guards paid with private money. Parents at Mulrennan Middle School did the same.
During the past week, transportation engineers were outside Rodgers Middle School putting in a crosswalk, extra signs and flashing beacons to help students cross safely.
Tuesday was the first day of classes for students following spring break. ABC Action News watched as some students ignored the crosswalk, others didn't know to push the button to cross safely.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office was outside the school to help educate drivers with the new crosswalk and flashing beacons.
Deputies pulled over at least half a dozen drivers for entering the crosswalk while someone was in it or while the lights were flashing.
One driver told ABC Action News, that there is actually a problem with how the county installed the flashing beacons. They put two signs back-to-back blocking a driver's view of the flashing signs.
A spokesperson for Hillsborough County said they are sending a traffic engineer to review the sign obstructing the view of drivers along McMullen Road and they plan to also review the crosswalk near Barrington Middle School.
The crossing guard outside Rodgers Middle School will start Monday, April 1, 2019.
The sheriff's office should have a report back to county commissioners in early April with an idea of how much it would cost to fund 165 crossing guards in the county.
When that is approved, the sheriff's office will have three years to phase in the crossing guards across the district.
They will first put crossing guards in the most needed areas of the county.
