NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio — Following the death of a 16-year-old who was hit by a car at a busy North Ridgeville intersection, there's a petition for change to make sure a tragedy like this never happens again.
RELATED: 16-year-old struck, killed by vehicle in North Ridgeville
Violet Gustafson was on break from her job at McDonald's on Lorain Road at the time. Friends and family said Violet grabbed a coffee at the Starbucks across the street and was returning to work when she was hit.
“This is just a whole tragic incident. There’s nothing more at this point to indicate this was anything more than an accident,” North Ridgeville Captain Greg Petek previously told News 5.
Petek said the investigation is ongoing, but preliminary evidence suggests a westbound car hit the teenager just West of the intersection with Lear Nagle Road around 6 p.m. Monday.
When officers arrived, they found the teen, and first responders began administering first aid. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
"She was such a fun presence to be around. She was going to school for carpentry at JVS. She'd spent her first two years of high school at the high school just being around everybody. I mean, everybody knew who Violet was. There wasn't a person in North Ridgeville or anywhere that didn't know something of her. She was so bright and she had so much potential," a friend of Violet's, Hennessey Lafollette, told me on Thursday.
As a way to honor Violet and make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else, Lillian Rzepka started a petition to install a crosswalk at the intersection where Violet was hit.
"I wanted to do this to honor Violet and for, you know, the people that care about her and also to be able to keep other people safe because there is just so much youth in the area," Rzepka said.
The petition was created a couple of days ago.
It already has more than 3,700 signatures as of Thursday night.
"There's no crosswalk anywhere near there — leaving her to have to cross without a crosswalk and, you know, that's how the accident happened. It's also not just her, but many other kids her age work in that same area. I've worked in that area before. There's a lot of foot traffic. There are a lot of vehicles," Rzepka said.
Rzepka said she's been doing research on different types of crosswalks and plans to bring her ideas to North Ridgeville City Council in the near future.
The petition has already gained the attention of the city, though.
On Thursday, the city posted on social media a response to it.
The City of North Ridgeville shares the community’s sorrow following the tragic loss of Violet Gustafson. Our thoughts remain with the families and all those affected. The North Ridgeville Police Department continues to actively investigate the incident.
Prior to this week’s crash, the city had begun work to address safety concerns in this area. We engaged a traffic engineering consultant to study the Lorain Road and Lear Nagle Road corridors due to increasing traffic congestion and safety issues. The resulting Gateway North Ridgeville study identified improvements at six nearby intersections to enhance both safety and traffic flow. These improvements will require phasing and funding and are still several years away. We are coordinating with ODOT and NOACA to advance this work and secure the resources needed.
We understand why residents are asking for a crosswalk or other visible action at this location. Public safety is our highest priority and it is important that any measure truly reduces risk. For that reason, we are working with traffic-safety engineers to evaluate the site and determine what short-term or long-term treatments would improve safety in a meaningful way. We have asked our consultant to expedite this review and to explore interim measures while larger corridor improvements continue to move forward.
The safety of North Ridgeville residents remains our guiding priority. We will keep the community informed as this work progresses.
I asked Rzepka and Lafollette what they thought about the city's statement.
"We've been heard. They hear what we want. I've reached out to some of our council members and they have replied to me saying that they're aware that it's an issue and that they agree there needs to be a crosswalk there, but also in their post, they stated that wouldn't be happening for several more years and that's not what we want. We want that to happen now because the longer we wait, it's the more likely that it'll happen," Rzepka said.
Lafollette added, "Even though they hear us and they're saying that they're expediting it, it's not good enough. We need something better and Violet deserved better. Something should have been done about it a long time ago, and the fact that they haven't is clearly a safety issue in itself. It shouldn't take a couple of years to put in sidewalks and crosswalks. It can be done and it should have been done a long time ago."
They both agree that not only a crosswalk, but more lighting needs to be installed in the next one to two years.
If it's not, they plan to rally people together and protest.
"I think that everybody coming together and even just saying her name is such a good thing like she would've been so happy. She maybe would've found it a little corny to be honest but she would've loved it. Just do something," Lafollette said.
"It's not even just for safety. It's justice for Violet," Rzepka said. "Keep sharing her petition and saying her name and getting the word out there. This is our generation's world and we should be able to make it a better place."
While the fight continues for improved safety, Lafollette said her thoughts remain with Violet's family.
"I definitely wanna mention her parents. She had three brothers, a nephew, all of her friends, including Clara, Izzy, Mars, Tessa, Romeo, Zach, and Brandon. She loved Brandon so much. All of her friends from JVS. All of the people who shared her petition or the GoFundMe, just anybody who knew her," Lafollette said.
If you'd like to sign the petition, click here.
