On Friday, a 16-year-old student was hit by a truck on his way to school around 7:20 a.m. The student suffered a small brain bleed and a concussion.

The driver told Pryor Creek Police that the sun was in his eyes, and he couldn’t see the student.

Days after the accident, the student’s aunt shared her concerns over the safety of other students using the crosswalk.

“We need to fix this problem,” said Mary Ford, aunt of the Pryor student who was hit over the weekend. “We can’t change the sun; we can change people speeding through. Yeah, we’ve got police officers there [and] they do the best they can, [but] they need help. If we get crossing guards out there, I think between the crossing guards and the police officer and the school itself opening and letting these children come in early, I think we can solve this problem.”

Pryor Creek Police Chief Jeremy Cantrell said the department met with the city and the school following the accident to discuss how to make the crosswalk safer.

“We did have a meeting afterward with the school system and we’ve also met with the city — you know, the mayor and other city officials — to see what we can do to try to make it safer but unfortunately, part of that area is that stretch of morning that the sun is a big factor in that,” said Chief Cantrell.

He said the investigation is still ongoing and that this is the second accident at this crosswalk in two years. He said the police department is trying to prevent more accidents.

“There are precautions to take. We can up some enforcement in that area,” said Cantrell. “I’m also working with the school to…have somebody out there to kind of help kids get across. Just getting a word out to everybody involved just to make sure that they’re watching out.”

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