Suzette Cook
An adult driver was extricated from a sedan after it collided with a pickup truck in front of the Alachua Learning Academy on Wednesday afternoon.
Alachua County Fire Rescue (ACFR) arrived on the scene at 11100 W State Road 235 to find a two-vehicle crash both with front-end damage, said ACFR Lt. Alex Porgesz.
“One occupant was trapped in sedan,” he said. “We arrived, evaluated, and removed the individual and sent them to the hospital.”
Porgesz said two pediatrics were in the back seat of the sedan and were removed by school staff.
“People at the school took them to the shade and as a precaution they were also checked for injuries at the hospital,” Porgesz said.
Parents at the scene say that semi trucks and other vehicles speed past the school intersection at 70 mph and that they have been asking the county to make the area safer with a traffic signal better signage. There is a slower speed limit of 45 mph in the school area, but parents say it goes ignored.
“This is a major problem and needs to be addressed now,” said parent Joe Hancock. “I have video of semi trucks rolling by at 70 (mph) plus. There is no school zone for the school.
“We have been saying this is going to happen and now it has. An accident like this should ever happen in front of a school.”
To see the video of trucks passing the school while parents are picking their students up after school click here.Â
Another parent, Douglas Hancock of Alachua, did a live feed on his Facebook page asking that anyone watching help get the county’s attention on the matter. Hancock said Alachua County needs make the intersection a priority for the state to take action.
“We’ve needed this for a while,” he said in the video. “It’s a shame that somebody had to get hurt. It’s a road that cars travel 70 mph all the time,” Hancock said. The speed limit goes to 45 mph, that’s not slow enough or is being ignored.”
