LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's an issue we've covered extensively over the last year: the spike in the number of Clark County School District (CCSD) students being hit by cars around schools in the Las Vegas Valley.
At Thursday morning's "State of the District" event, CCSD Superintendent Jhone Ebert gave more insight into just how drastic the increase is over the last year, and what's being done to try and reverse the trend.
WATCH | CCSD superintendent shares update on number of students hit by cars this school year
New numbers shared by Ebert show more than 220 students have been hit by cars around CCSD schools in the valley this school year, compared to 120 over the same period last school year.
"It's terrible, it's very terrible," local grandma Vickie Bailey said, reacting to the troubling trend. "I don't want to see any kid hit — that's why I walk my grandkids up to school and I bring them back."
On Thursday morning, Ebert explained part of the spike is due to better record keeping and data sharing among local jurisdictions, but added there are more reasons too.
"Nationally — and here in Nevada — we are seeing an increase in collisions involving e-bikes and e-scooters," Ebert said. "We're also seeing an increase in the number of incidents when students were distracted or did not follow the traffic laws themselves."
Ebert says solving this problem is a major priority for the district, crediting the Nevada State Legislature for stepping up fines for traffic violations in school zones, and Clark County for the formation of a "School Traffic Safety Working Group," which has all Southern Nevada cities, counties and law enforcement agencies on board.
That's something that local grandma Vickie Bailey is all for, especially if it yields results.
"I think it would be good," Bailey said. "When the police are here [outside of our elementary school], everyone's driving right and there's no problem. When the police aren't here, they go back to the same old routine."
We'll continue to bring you the latest on what's being done by the district and our community to help keep local students safe around their schools.
In the meantime, if you have a question or concern about traffic safety at a school in your neighborhood, feel free to reach out to me via email at Guy.Tannenbaum@ktnv.com.
