HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Some Hillsborough County kids are seeing higher numbers of pedestrian and bicycle crashes around their schools. More troubling, the crashes are happening during peak hours when students are typically going to school or walking and biking home.
Middleton High School saw 19 school-related crashes between 2012 and 2016, according to a top ten school safety study conducted by Hillsborough County.
Ferrell Magnet Middle School saw 11 crashes in that same time period, despite the fact that they have around half as many students enrolled as Middleton H.S.
Chamberlain High School saw 14 school-related crashes in that time period and Sulphur Springs K-8 saw 17 school-related crashes.
School-related crashes considered pedestrian and bicycle crashes when school was in session, during typical school hours, during arrival and dismissal times and where the person involved in the crash was of school age, according to findings by Hillsborough County.
Administrators at Sulphur Springs K-8 worked to take measures into their own hands by applying for a Safe Routes to School grant with support from Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa. As a result, massive improvements are currently being made including new sidewalks, railings and signage. Administrators are still hoping for better lighting around the school's campus and within its parking lot.
Hillsborough County transportation leaders, as well as Hillsborough County School leaders, are aware of many of the issues surrounding Sulphur Springs K-8 and other schools with high rates of pedestrian and bicycle crashes involving school-age kids.
ABC Action News will continue to press Hillsborough County for a timeline of when other changes are set to happen at all of these schools.
