KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics in Kansas, Missouri and at the local level. Share your story idea with Charlie.
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Soon, drivers in Kansas City, Missouri, will no longer be able to make right-hand turns on red traffic lights in school zones during school zone hours.
The ordinance passed in the city council Thursday with a vote of 13-0.
The new rule is a direct result of the death of Hazen Workman-Duffy. The 9-year-old died after a van struck her while she rode her bike across Longview Road at Food Lane while heading to Ingles Elementary School on Oct. 14.
“Kids don't need to die on the streets of Kansas City. Any loss of life for a young person, especially a young person going to school, deserves our full policy focus," Mayor Quinton Lucas said Thursday.
Drivers won’t be able to turn right on red once new signage announcing the rule is installed at schools. The city will prioritize adding the signage at elementary schools first, then move on to middle schools. Finally, it hopes to have signs at every high school within one year.
Schools can ask for a waiver, opting them out of the new rule.
The preliminary police report from Workman-Duffy’s deadly crash indicates the driver who struck her was making a left-hand turn.
“We can’t legislate everything,” Lucas said. “What you can try to do is get more people to say, ‘I need to pay attention. I need to pay attention to children who are around us.’”
Diana Shields, Hazen’s mom, reacted to the decision.
“I’m grateful that change is coming through this devastating tragedy,” she said to KSHB reporter Fernanda Silva via Facebook Messenger.
Shields says the decision is a “great idea,” but she has more suggestions.
“I also feel that the flashing yellow arrow should turn red when the crosswalk signal is green for schoolchildren to cross,” she said.
According to her, the driver who hit her daughter was turning left.
The tragedy has left Hazen's parents and five siblings struggling to process their loss.
“The days are actually getting more difficult for me,” she said. “I miss my daughter so much—it’s like I can’t breathe sometimes. It’s a soul-crushing loss.”
Shields doesn't believe the accident was the driver's fault.
“He stayed and he prayed over her. And so I have to forgive. You know, I can’t hold on to emotions that aren’t going to help me heal. So he’s already forgiven,” she said in an interview the week after she lost her daughter.
Rodney Adams often rides his bike in the neighborhood surrounding Ingles Elementary. He is supportive of the new rule.
“Hopefully, some other family doesn’t get devastated by the same thing,” he said.
Dr. Dennis Carpenter, the superintendent of the Hickman Mills School District, released the following statement.
"We appreciate the City taking steps to improve safety in our school zones. Any measure that helps protect students as they travel to and from school is something we support. Our hope is that this ordinance will lead to safer, more mindful driving around our schools. While we cannot comment on the ongoing accident investigation involving Hazen Duffy, we believe evaluating and improving all aspects of traffic safety near our schools is worthwhile, and we appreciate the Mayor’s and the City Council’s review of the opportunity to protect not only HMC-1, but all districts within the Kansas City boundaries."
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