HUNTER'S CREEK, Fla. – An Orange County community is installing new traffic-calming devices to help slow drivers near a deadly intersection where a 15-year-old was run over by a car while riding his bicycle.
Since News 6′s coverage of 15-year-old Domonique Smith’s death in February, Hunter’s Creek and Orange County leaders have been putting in the work to make a difference for local residents.
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Drivers in the Mallard Cove neighborhood have a new sign warning drivers to watch for pedestrians, clearer views for oncoming traffic and — just down the road — radars to tell drivers to slow down.
All this is great news for one family, which told News 6 these changes will help prevent other families from sharing in their loss.
“Being in Orlando near the crash site, it was just still too painful, and we just had to move,” said Cherry Smith, mother of Domonique Smith.
Cherry Smith says while she is sad to have to leave the Hunter’s Creek area but is happy her son helped create change.
It was at the intersection off of Mallard Cove Boulevard and Town Center Boulevard where Domonique Smith was riding his bicycle in the crosswalk before being hit by a vehicle and killed.
Florida Highway Patrol said the vehicle was attempting to make a right turn.
Neighbors called for action to prevent another death.
Mariela, a neighbor living in the Mallard Cove neighborhood, in a previous interview said, “A stop sign is not doing enough. It’s good, but it’s not doing enough.”
She was followed by Cherry Smith, who also said, “It has to be a change. They need to do something about that section, that intersection”
Those cries heard, in a statement from the Hunter’s Creek Community Association, which said it got results:
“I just want to thank you for all the work you guys put in. It made me feel a little bit better knowing someone else’s child or person that they love won’t have to experience what I’ve experienced,” Cherry Smith said.
According to the Hunter’s Creek Community Association, the changes made near this intersection have been working to calm traffic.
Cherry Smith left this message to drivers in the area: “You know, just be careful. Slow down, and think about people as if it was your loved ones that you’re watching for.”
The Hunter’s Creek Community Association said they’re not done getting results yet. Orange County Public Works is set to do another traffic study from Orange Blossom Trail to west of Shingle Creek.