Impatient drivers worry crosswalk guard (and mom)

By DEVIN WEEKS

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — In the eyes of a Coeur d'Alene mom who doubles as a crossing guard at Ramsey Magnet School of Science, the busy intersection at Ramsey Road and Kathleen Avenue is becoming increasingly dangerous.

"I've got students who need to make it home and they have to walk," Courtney Crookham said Thursday evening. "They don't have cars. They're young kids who need to make it home."

Crookham, who said she wasn’t representing the school or Coeur d'Alene School District in any way, is concerned for the safety of the kids and all pedestrians in that intersection. She has seen some close calls. Her son was involved in an accident last summer.

"He was hit in the crosswalk when he was on his bike," Crookham said. "Somebody bumped into him and just kept driving."

Crookham's son wasn’t injured in the incident, but she worries about if — or when — someone else's child gets hurt. She said cars often cut through the crosswalks in front of her and the schoolchildren, between them and the curb, as they are actively crossing. She said it's mainly right turns that are creating the problem.

"We don't cross unless it's green on the crosswalk light, and I have to get my behind out there in time to make sure the cars stop," she said, adding that at times she has had to grab kids and stop them from stepping into the crosswalk when traffic won't yield.

"There have been a few times where I think they're going to stop and they don't," she said. "It's not like you don't notice me and my red stop sign and purple vest."

Ramsey, LAM Christian Academy and Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy are all in that area, making for busy mornings and afternoons as parents drop off and pick up their students.

Amy MacNiven parks in a lot on the northwest corner of the intersection as she waits for her fourth-grader to get out of school. That gives her a good half hour to watch the traffic when school lets out.

"People just aren't being patient," she said.

She said about a year ago she was walking from the school with her son and another child. They were getting ready to walk in the crosswalk when the signal changed and as they were getting ready to walk, "a car turned right into us, so I had to pull both kids back."

"These are our children," MacNiven said. "Would you want your child to be at risk by just not paying attention? People nowadays, they're in such a hurry."

Coeur d'Alene Police Detective Mario Rios said he was surprised to hear concerns about the intersection because the first complaint came in just this week. It’s a unique intersection because it is the only one in town with a traffic light and a crossing guard, he said. The department didn't have any recent violations to report in that area.

"This is the first we've heard about crosswalk issues," he told The Press.

In the summer months, however, that stretch of Ramsey does have its fair share of red-light-runners and other minor infractions.

Rios said the fine for speeding in a school zone is $156.50. It’s $90 for crosswalk violations like not stopping or cutting off pedestrians.

"The message I want to get out to drivers is to be more vigilant," Crookham said. "I understand everybody wants to be home, but take that five seconds to look both ways and imagine there's kids who want to make it home safe."

"They deserve to be home and alive just like anybody else," she said. "They deserve to cross the street without being worried about being hurt."