If the Long Beach Middle School were a cable TV drama, the cliffhanger at season’s end would have described an encounter between .
The boy was headed to graduation rehearsal on his board. He was strong and purposeful. He was a natural on wheels. He was a member of the Gladiators, the wrestling team. He crossed as he did everyday, without a helmet. On this last day of school, “boom!” he was knocked off his board, unconscious, by a white Mercedes Benz SUV.
As the new season of “Long Beach Middle School” begins, our skateboarder is and no apparent safety plan exists.
I read in the Herald that Governor Cuomo signed Harvey's bill into law allowing the in Long Beach. While the article mentioned this particular accident, they should have been clear to say the new bill does not help this particular situation. It deals with some residential streets. Anyway, none of us want to drive 15 mph on Lido Boulevard.
The unfortunate truth is that the Long Beach Middle School and the Long Beach High School are in Lido Beach. Long Beach kids have to cross Lido Boulevard and there is no safe way if we have to depend on Nassau County and the Town of Hempstead for protection.
We need a safe supervised crossing in Long Beach managed by the Long Beach Police Department. There is a Nassau County crossing guard at Allevard in Lido, which is good for students who live in Lido Beach. There is an underlying problem here to be solved. Long Beach cops do not work in Lido Beach but they should be protecting Long Beach’s students. My idea is called “The Maple Street Crossing.”
Maple Street is the Lido Beach-Long Beach border. There is a fire house on the south side and the police auxiliary headquarters on the north side. It is on the bus route.
I propose that the city position a police officer at the “Maple Street Crossing” to control traffic as the cars take off onto the six lane highway that is Lido Boulevard (Park Avenue in Long Beach). The “Maple Street Crossing” would be safe and supervised, just as it is where Long Beach Traffic Police are stationed at the elementary schools.
Parents would advise their kids on bicycles, skateboards and foot to cross no further east than Maple. (The police might remind the kids headed for the middle school on bicycles to put on their helmets -- it is the law, after all.)
With a Long Beach police officer directing traffic for kids to cross, there will be peace of mind for parents and students who are headed to the high school and the middle school.
Let’s honor the boy who was hurt crossing at Greenway by asking Long Beach PD and the city council to take up this initiative to keep the students of the Long Beach Schools safe. Hopefully, he’ll be back at the high school before this season ends and crossing with a skateboard will be a bit safer.
Nah, I know, parents just want to hear about everyone else paying to rubber-room the world for their dented copies of themselves to bounce around in.
If you open your eyes and watch every resident that blow stop signs and ignore pedestrians in crosswalks. The speed limit is not reduced anywhere on Park or Lido Blvd and while we all teach our children to look both ways, accidents happen. The cost of a crossing guard is ultimately less than the ambulance and lude flight helicopter for one accident. Let's focus on the real issues instead.
And if they did, they would have to be trained in traffic laws like speeding, running red lights etc.which they are obviously unfamiliar with. And they would have to learn how to issue tickets to law breaking motorists, something else they don't ever do. Get real. They are too busy studying their pensions and other benefits
There are hundreds of kids crossing to go to school in tje morning and return home after school. A police figure can hold cars back so kids can get across. Parents hoping kids arrive safe likely jump that light as fast as they can. Who of you would cross a street as a car approaches a stop sign with confidence. I tell my kids not to step in front of a car unless you look the driver on the eye, even at a stop sign. The presence of an officer will work for both kids who may be careless and drivers who are in a hurry. The police can do this. If it controls drivers and protects students, that is good. There are so many stop signs and lights on our streets that condition drivers to pause rather than stop. It is especially necessary for cars to stop where kids are crossing. How many ways can I say that.
East Chester St. is less congested route for students to walk, or bicycle ride because this street is a one-way street for cars moving west to east, so you don't have vehicles speeding down it to bypass Park's traffic lights and rush to the bridge. Once students reach the canals the ideally safe route is to walk/ride through the canals to Curley St, through the path by the Auxiliary Police Depot (Which is on Maple Blvd), go one block east on Lido, turn left onto Blackheath, and maneuver down to the High School or to the Middle School with as minimal exposure to congested and high speed traffic as possible.
Chantel... exploited, how about suggested? This is not a movement. Just something I feel strongly enough about to write. Perhaps it doesn't matter at all. Perhaps you don't see the chaos between cars and kids. Sure, there are not accidents everyday, but there are near accidents everyday.
I was riding a bicycle home from the beach over ten years ago (before texting). I was trying to cross Lido Blvd when the North Bound Traffic Light was green for me, My bike chain abruptly fell off the two gears and I fell with the gear driving into my leg. I was so nervous that I was lying in the middle of Lido Blvd that, without any hesitation, I grabbed my broken bicycle, carried it up, and dashed over to the Fire House with all of my nervous adrenaline. There was a firemen outside washing his truck at the time. and He asked are you ok, and pointed at my leg, then the trail of blood leading to the Blvd where I was impaled by the multiple links of the gears. To make a long story short, the moment the bike and myself leaped onto the curb the light changed and cars sped right by like nothing happened. If I was travelling and not following the rules of the road, I would have been run over, no questions asked. If this was today, the odds of a driver being distracted by a cell phone, ipod, or navigator would have extremely increased, and I probably would have had a much more traumatic situation than just my physical and mental scar.
Mr Dunes, East Chester is definitely less congested and being a one-way it is more safe for nonmotorized users. Cars actually speed and avoid full stops at stop signs on East Chester while peds and bikes have their guard down. it's no more safe than Park Ave.
In this case, I understand your point. Yes, drivers have a responsibility too. They have skin in the game as well as pedestrians, cyclists, et al, do. The problem with comparing drivers and the less well-protected users of the road is just that. Drivers, in the event of a collision, stand to lose much less than the others. They might get sued, their insurance premiums might increase, etc, but the cyclists, pedestrians, joggers, etc, they are in a position to lose their lives, their limbs, their way of life. The consequences for them are more likely to be more serious than the driver's. If this was a matter of fairness, I would say something should be done to mitigate this disparity. But we aren't talking about fairness. We're talking about real life. Because of that, we need to recognize the reality of the situation and encourage as many people as we can to behave rationally, which means using caution when dealing with two ton missiles being propelled down the road by high-efficiency combustion engines. The operators of those projectiles need to be accountable for their deeds, and they are, but the physical consequences for them will always be lesser than their unarmored counterparts.
Looking at the situation clearly you have a wonderful suburban beach community with an influx of Long Beach residents daily. There is the trash left behind by the "walking" students, the huge increase in cars every morning and afternoon, the constant demeaning of Lido Beach residents as well. The fact that the majority of enrolled students are NOT from lido Beach lends itself to a new reality. Long Beach Schools should be in LONG BEACH! Then Long Beach residents can hit their own students with their own cars, Long Beach police can protect their own students and Lido Beach can go back to being a suburban beach community and NOT a host to the neighboring CITY's public school system.
The School district is Long Beach, Lido Beach and I thought Island Park has an option and Point Lookout also, has an option to attend Long Beach Public Schools. Please clarify if you can....