Two days after two teen girls were struck and killed by a car while walking alongside a Coventry Township road, neighbors near the scene said long-requested safety improvements could have helped prevent the tragedy.
The Summit County Medical Examiner confirmed Tuesday that Taylor Galloway, 14, and Amber Thoma, 14, died from their injuries sustained Sunday.
The girls were walking with a group of teens along S. Main Street near Leicester Rd. when a 1999 Ford Escort driven by a 24-year-old New Franklin woman traveled over the fog line and struck three of them, according to the Summit County Sheriff’s Dept.
“You need to maintain your lane in the roadway,” explained Inspector Bill Holland of the Summit County Sheriff’s Dept. “So she crossed over that line. Why that happened and any other details beyond that are under investigation.”
A third person, a 15-year-old boy, was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital with serious injuries.
Holland explained that the teens were walking along the side of the road at the time of the accident.
There are no sidewalks on that stretch of S. Main St.
It’s an issue that neighbors near the scene of Sunday’s crash tell News 5 they have been complaining about for years.
“We’ve struggled with that for a long time,” said April Sollers, who said she raised her children along this portion of South Main. “We need sidewalks here.”
Other neighbors said they have written to the township asking for caution signage.
“I wrote a letter saying they need to mark that small 3-foot area as no pedestrians, no bikes,” said Dorothy Koopmeiners, who watched the aftermath of the accident from her front window. “But I have not had a response.”
It’s a tragedy that hits even closer to home for Stephanie Coffield. Her brother, Jerimiah Coffield, 25, was also walking along the fog line on S. Main Street when he was struck and killed by a driver in January who drove away from the scene.
“It’s living this again. Just through another family— they’re in our shoes,” Stephanie Coffield told News 5.
Coffield noted that the circumstances were different in her brother’s situation because the incident happened in the darkness of the early morning hours. But still, her family believes that sidewalks would have saved his life.
“It’s sad because this would have been prevented by a sidewalk being there,” she said. “They are so close to the road where drivers, unfortunately, don’t pay attention.”
Neighbors are also pushing for caution signage.
News 5 reached out to all of Coventry Townships Trustees about the concerns. Trustee Ed Diebold referred questions to the Summit County Engineers Office.
But Heidi Swindell of the Summit County Engineer’s Office told News 5 the any decisions pertaining to sidewalks would have to be approved by Coventry Twp.
“We send our condolences to the families involved in this tragedy and we’re monitoring the situation,” Swindell told News 5.
She said the office has requested police reports from the incident but at this time they do not have evidence that roadway conditions contributed to the crash.
The Summit County Sheriff's Department tells News 5 the case is still under investigation and charges are pending the outcome.
