Trooper Yonny Campos said it was determined that the student failed to yield to vehicles already in motion, adding he was crossing over North College Road from the McDonald’s opposite Taco Bell, near Long Ridge Drive.
Lieutenant Jerry Brewer, a New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, also confirmed the incident and advised students to cross near Trask Middle School, where there is a stop light and a crossing guard on duty. The problem, Brewer said, is that sometimes high school students don’t want to backtrack to cross at this location. As with this most recent incident, Brewer said students are taking the quickest route to Taco Bell and the McDonald’s nearby.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s interactive map on pedestrian and cyclist crashes shows nine injuries over a decade from cars hitting pedestrians near Laney High School. The most common reasons cited were ‘pedestrian not yielding,’ ‘darting out,’ or ‘walking in’ the roadway. There are no sidewalks along this section of North College Road or other traffic-calming measures.
Shortly after the incident, Laney Principal Danny Little emailed the school community: "We want to take a moment to emphasize the importance of student safety during school hours. It has come to our attention that some students are leaving campus without authorization, which poses serious risks to both their safety and the security of our school. Leaving school grounds without permission can expose students to unsafe situations, including traffic hazards, encounters with strangers, and other potential dangers. Additionally, unauthorized departures create security concerns for our entire school community, as we are responsible for ensuring that all students are accounted for during the school day.”
Little then wrote there would be consequences if students left campus without permission, those possibilities being: subject to a search upon return to school, a one to two-day suspension, and loss of other privileges like revoking a parking permit, participation in extracurriculars, and attending prom.
He then asked parents and guardians to contact him with additional questions.
WHQR contacted New Hanover County Schools for a comment but has not heard back. We will update the story if we do.
While there are concerns about students following the rules around campus, there is also a broader discussion about traffic safety near Laney High.
Steven Heiney, a research associate at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center, said this road structure, an arterial road where pedestrians must cross, is the most common site of pedestrian fatalities. He said a crosswalk would help, but it’s not enough.
“You still have a pedestrian crossing a street where you maybe don't have other elements that would make drivers slow down before they get to that crosswalk, elements that even maybe make them stop for a second to let people cross, even if it's a light that indicates that a pedestrian wants to cross. So crosswalks are kind of the minimum, but in a safe system, you're really adding other elements that are going to ensure the safety of other users on the roadway,” he said.
WECT reported in March 2023 that two students had been hit by cars within the past three months around the school. The outlet confirmed that NCDOT and New Hanover County were working to upgrade the traffic and pedestrian infrastructure around both Laney and Trask. That included plans for a sidewalk to run from Gordon Road to Northchase Parkway, the site of a planned library. Additionally, NCDOT has recommended installing a new traffic light by McDonald’s, where the student was hit on Wednesday. This would include a crosswalk.
Back in 2023, a county spokesperson told WECT they hoped to complete it by 2024 if they received state or federal matching grants for construction through the WMPO.
Fast forward to where the projects stand now, New Hanover County spokesperson Alex Reily said the county is 90% done with the plans for the sidewalk path from Gordon Road to the new Northchase library (also yet to be constructed). The trail construction is expected to start this summer and will take about a year to complete. This would also include the plan for a sidewalk and crossing on North College from Gordon Road to Northchase.
For the signal and crossing at McDonald’s, NCDOT is using state safety funds. The state is opening the bid for companies to construct it on March 20.
