DELTONA, Fla. – A crash near Pine Ridge High School that killed a 15-year-old and injured several others has prompted Volusia County to change a traffic light.
Joshua Durner died Monday in a head-on crash while making a left turn into the school’s entrance at Howland Boulevard and Fish Hawk Road. He was sophomore at the high school.
Drivers will now only be able to turn on a green arrow during school arrival and dismissal times. All other times, drivers can expect the flashing yellow arrow.
However, some residents like, Francis C., said the area needs a school zone rather than a light change.
"I don't understand why changing the light would make a difference on it. I really don't," said Francis C. "You have a school down there, an elementary school. You have a zone down there, so you figure you have a high school here, it should all be connected."
A parent from Pine Ridge High School agrees.
"This could have been prevented," Chris Anderson said.
Anderson was picking up his children Monday from Pine Ridge High School when he spoke to News 6. He said drivers go faster than the 40 mph speed limit and stands by implementing a school zone. He said speed has always been the issue.
"This high rate of speed of 60 and more, it's going to kill somebody and it already did. And I feel bad because, for four years, I've been bringing this up," he said.
According to the Florida Department of Transportation, school zones are not required at high schools but can be on a case-by-case basis.
"The county has to come here and sit here and watch and say, 'Well, what do we got to do? We got to make a school zone.' It's plain and simple. It's a school zone," Anderson said.
The county said there are school crossing signs in the area and traffic engineers will be studying the roads to see if a school zone is necessary.