LACKAWANNA, N.Y. — A mom with kids at Global Concepts Charter School in Lackawanna contacted 2 On Your Side with safety concerns about the traffic in front of the school.
"I've actually stopped traffic in order for them to cross the street. Myself with my car," Maria Garcia said.
Garcia has two kids at Global Concepts Charter School in Lackawanna. They're in third grade and seventh grade, but she's heard from parents with kids in college who say speeding was a problem when their kids were in school too.
"Every morning when I drop off the kids for school, I see distracted drivers everywhere. They don't slow down," Garcia said.
Garcia has seen a lot of close calls, so she started an online petition asking the city to install a high-visibility crosswalk like the one in front of the library. She was inspired by parents who did the same thing at another school.
"I have about 200 people who have signed it, and everybody has the same concern that nothing's been done," she says.
There is one crosswalk down the street from the school, and 2 On Your Side only saw one school zone sign, and it didn't have a speed limit on it.
"I would actually get a speed sign, a school sign that says at least the hours, 15 miles per hour, crosswalk, something that says slow down, there's a school here," Garcia said.
The whole thing makes Garcia very nervous.
"I'm always praying that a kid does not get hit. Even, you know, even the parents, even the teachers who work here they're all concerned, but just hoping that there's no tragedy that happens here," Garcia says.
2 On Your Side reached out to the City of Lackawanna to find out if there are any plans to install crosswalks or signs, and we have not heard back yet.