Silver Creek High student says crosswalk is dangerous after 15-year-old hit by impaired driver

SELLERSBURG, Ind. (WDRB) — Sellersburg town leaders are discussing immediate changes that can be made to make the crosswalk near US-31 and County Road 403 safer after 15-year-old Silver Creek High School student was hit by a car Thursday.

Police said Thursday the driver, David Jeremy Via, was impaired and under the influence of drugs. Via was arrested and charged with operating while impaired, and he is being held at Clark County jail on a $5,000 cash bond.

Following the accident, Sellersburg Town Manager Charlie Smith met with superintendents from Silver Creek School Corporation to discuss immediate safety measures that can be put in place.

In a post shared on the town's Facebook page, the town acknowledged that there have been safety concerns regarding the crosswalk for a while.

Friday, a crossing guard helped students cross the street at the crosswalk.

Joshua Dunn, who attends Silver Creek High School and who works at Sherrilli's Pizzeria across the street, said that there has never been a crossing guard at the crosswalk before now.

He made it to his job shortly after the student was hit by the impaired driver while using the crosswalk Thursday. Dunn said the crosswalk is dangerous and he's surprised an accident didn't happen sooner.

He added that something to make the crosswalk safer probably should have been done before now.

The crosswalk sits at a busy intersection with three lanes of traffic.

"I've almost been hit multiple times," Dunn said. "I have to peek around cars to make sure I don't get hit when I'm walking over."

Silver Creek Middle and High schools sit on one side of the street. A gas station and Sherrilli's Pizzeria are on the other, and there's a traffic intersection that leads to the highway further down.

"What happens is that someone in the middle lane stops, and they'll wave someone to go on the crosswalk, and then someone in the very far lane can't see anything at all. So, they'll just almost hit people," Dunn said.

Some of the crosswalk's white lines are faded. There's no crosswalk sign for traffic traveling north, and there are no crossing lights in the area. Dunn said there used to be a stop sign at the crosswalk, but it fell down more than a year ago and was never replaced. He said when it was up, people would drive right past it.

"People just wouldn't stop for it. Personally, don't think I've ever seen anybody get pulled over for it," he said.

Dunn added that the lack of enforcement of the crosswalk add to the chaos. He feels like people should have gotten pulled over for running the stop sign when it was there.

The 15-year-old who was hit is recovering from surgery.

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