Eric Rozcyki was standing alongside Ormond Boulevard when a woman drove past the school bus that his granddaughter was stepping into and never stopped.
“I flagged her down and pointed to the bus,” said Rozcyki, who has lived along the boulevard for 23 years. “The bus driver also honked her horn at her. As I looked at the driver I could see her cell phone in her right hand looking down. She didn’t slow down until she passed the bus and still did not come to a complete stop.”
It was another apparent case of a distracted driver and in the hectic rush of the heavily trafficked boulevard.
Just a week earlier, the driver of a Nissan Xterra was charged with texting while driving after rear-ending a Honda Accord and pushing it under a school bus at its stop on the boulevard, according to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office. The May 1 accident also was on Ormond Boulevard, and occurred while a bus with 17 Harry Hurst Middle School students aboard was at a regular stop.
Rozcyki recounted how the driver mouthed the word “Sorry” or something like it to him, but continued to hold her phone in her hand.
For Rozckyi, as well as members of the St. Charles Parish Council who represent the area, the issue is more a parishwide problem with distracted drivers but they also concede the heavily trafficked boulevard poses concerns, too.
“I stand out every morning with my two granddaughters as they take two different buses,” Rozckyi said. “I would venture a guess that every other driver is looking at their cell phones as they pass my house and approach the stoplight. I am surprised that there are not more rear-end collisions.”
Councilwoman Wendy Benedetto said, “People are hitting things out of neglect … not paying attention.”
Benedetto said studies show the boulevard isn’t the most accident prone in the parish, but she is pushing for road changes to make it a safer route.
Cpl. James Grimaldi, spokesman for the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office, said there were 11 crashes documented on Ormond Boulevard so far this year. Of them, two were labeled as “distracted” driving (by something outside the vehicle), one was a hit-and-run and eight as “initiative” driving from not paying attention.
Grimaldi said the parish’s most common location for crashes appears to be Airline Highway and Ormond Center Court.“There is an opening for westbound traffic on Airline to cross the eastbound Airline lanes to enter Ormond Center Court,” he said. “People will attempt to cross while traffic is stopped for the red light, not realizing that vehicles are still driving in the turning lane to Ormond Boulevard.”Councilman Dick Gibbs, who also lives on the boulevard, said he wants more severe penalties for drivers charged with texting and driving wherever they occur.
“I run the boulevard every single day,” Gibbs said. “This has nothing to do with how busy Ormond Boulevard is; it has everything to do with personal choice.”
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