Teens struck in crosswalk
by Lenny Roberts

Two Nordhoff High School girls were struck in a crosswalk Wednesday morning as they left the campus on lunch break. The driver of the vehicle, a 16-year-old, also a Nordhoff student, was not injured.
According to Deputy Jeff Marrs, Ojai's traffic investigation officer, Carley Marr, 16, was knocked straight to the ground by the impact, and suffered a broken right wrist. More seriously injured was 17-year-old Lindsay Morgan, who was struck and carried approximately 30 feet from the crosswalk that crosses Maricopa Highway at Pirie Road. When paramedics arrived from their nearby headquarters, Morgan was found lying near the passenger's side door in the roadway. She sustained a broken pelvis, and the vehicle, a 2000 Toyota pickup truck, displayed a dented hood and cracked windshield as evidence of the impact.
According to Ojai Valley Community Hospital spokeswoman Nancy Thompson Thursday, Marr had been treated and released, and Morgan remained hospitalized in stable condition.
Marrs said that pending an ongoing investigation which will involve numerous witnesses, Teter's vehicle was apparently traveling at a low rate of speed when the girls were struck.
Marrs described the area in front of and around Nordhoff as dangerous, especially when school is in session.
"This is a bad section between Valle Rio and Pirie. Tom Triplett (Ojai's motor officer) and I were on a traffic stop on Church Road when we got the call. We do a lot of enforcement here. It's a place where people need to be careful," Marrs said.
Deputy Bud McCracken, Ojai's school resource officer, said that two years ago, when he was the city's traffic safety officer, he suggested to Caltrans that the stretch of highway in front of Nordhoff be reduced to two lanes, as it is at intersections both north and south of the school.
"Caltrans considered but rejected the idea, saying that it couldn't be reduced for 20 minutes twice a day," McCracken said. "It didn't make sense. There's no bottleneck on either side where it's two lanes."
McCracken said the city and/or Caltrans should consider, as a reasonable alternative to a reduction of lanes, flashing red lights that would be triggered by pedestrians who intend to enter the crosswalk.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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