Two MCPS students involved in crashes

Two students were involved in separate traffic crashes on Nov. 11, one walking and the other riding a bicycle, again highlighting the issue of pedestrian safety in Marion County.

According to a 911 dispatch record, a Lake Weir Middle School student was hit by an SUV around 8:21 a.m. in the 800 block of Oak Road. The dispatch record indicates the victim was transported on “trauma alert” basis.

Details of the crash, any charges involved or the exact nature and extent of the injuries to the student were not immediately available.

The official bus stop is located at Oak Road and Oak Lane Track, according to a Marion County Public Schools official, which is a short distance from the incident site listed on the 911 dispatch record.

In the other incident, a student was “riding (his) bike home from Ross Prairie Elementary” in the 15000 block of Southwest 65th Terrace Road around 3:14 p.m. when a car, possibly a gray or silver Toyota, “ran him off the road,” according to a 911 dispatch record.

The dispatch record did not state if the vehicle involved in the collision stopped initially or later returned to the scene.

The report indicates responding medics found the 4th grade student had “minor injuries” and refers to “scraped up arms and a loose tooth.”

The student’s parents were to handle transport for evaluation.

The two crashes on Nov.11 in unincorporated areas of Marion County come in the wake of the death of Shannon Rushing, an 18-year-old Forest High School senior, who was struck while walking on northwest Old Blitchton Road in northwest Ocala on the morning of Oct. 27.

Shannon’s family has called for action on increased pedestrian safety and posted a petition on change.org seeking signatures to have decision makers support “Shannon’s Law.”

“That road, (northwest Old Blitchton Road) shrouded in darkness without adequate lighting, sidewalks, or pedestrian signage, has been a silent perpetrator of numerous accidents, claiming far too many lives, including Shannon’s,” the petition states.

The law would mandate adequate lighting and sidewalks in areas of pedestrian traffic and monitoring of dangerous roads.

As of Nov. 12, the petition had 3,117 verified signatures.

Meanwhile, the city of Ocala has partnered with Marion County, the State of Florida and the Ocala-Marion County Traffic Planning Organization in a study funded by a $104,000 U.S. Department of Transportation grant and $26,000 matching city funds. The goal of the study, according to a city press release, is to set a “local road safety plan” and a “speed management and traffic calming plan” targeting safer driving speeds in  neighborhoods and around schools.

Both plans are “designed to reduce and eliminate serious injuries and fatalities on Ocala’s roadways,” the release stated.

The study reviewed 2020-2024 roadway data and later information supplied at two public meetings held during the run of the study. A draft of study results is scheduled to completed this month and then be sent to the Ocala City Council .

According to the Florida Highway Patrol Crash Dashboard at flhsmv.gov, there have been 69 traffic fatalities in Marion County from Jan. 1 to Nov. 11, according to preliminary information.

The FHP data states 16 of the fatalities were pedestrian deaths and 4 of the fatalities were bicyclists.

In 2024, there were 114 traffic fatalities in Marion County and 22 of those were pedestrian fatalities and in 2023, there were 91 traffic fatalities and 14 of those were pedestrians, the FHP data states.