AUBURN, Maine — A seven-year-old boy in Auburn is recovering from minor injuries after being hit by a car Tuesday while he was crossing the street to get to Fairview School.
According to Auburn police, officers responded to Minot Avenue at 8:29 a.m. Tuesday after receiving a call about a pedestrian crash.
Fairview School principal Celeste Beaudet said the child was crossing the street with the school's crossing guard. The crossing guard directs traffic on Minot Avenue every morning and afternoon, helping ensure that students get to and from school safely.
Beaudet said the crossing guard, who directs traffic using a flashing red stop sign, tried to flag the driver down, waving his stop sign in hopes of catching the driver's attention.
Despite the crossing guard's efforts, the driver, who has been identified as Alberto Nafoia, missed all the warnings, driving straight through the crosswalk and hitting the young boy, Beaudet said.
"People are in a rush, and it can be scary," Beaudet said. "Sometimes they drive like it's a highway."
Although Beaudet explained that Nafoia was not driving excessively fast, she said he wasn't paying attention.
"Mom was actually on the sidewalk and actually witnessed it," Beaudet said. "Mom was distraught and rightfully so. Everyone worked together to support mom, to support student, to support everyone out there. The crossing guard was visibly shaken. He was really upset, and the driver was upset as well."
Minot Avenue is a chaotic street, Beaudet explained. The busy road has four lanes of traffic, and on any given day, Beaudet said she sees cars passing faster than they should be, and drivers just like Nafoia who are not paying attention.
Auburn Police Department Deputy Chief Tim Cougle said there are flashing stop lights in the area.
"All of the safety [precautions] that could have been in place [were] in place, and yet this still happened," Cougle said. "Really it's a whole myriad of reasons why people could be distracted."
Cougle said drivers could be distracted by phones and electronic devices, children, or even pets, which impacts their awareness and attention to the road and their surroundings.
He explained that the police department increases their presence in school zones, especially on Minot Avenue at the beginning of August each year to make sure drivers adjust to school beginning in the fall.
Cougle said Fairview is one of Auburn's largest elementary schools and has some 400 students.
Since Aug. 1, officers have made 80 to 85 stops near Fairview school and have issued 43 citations in the area for various reasons.
Another parent in the area, Nicolas Cummings, regularly witnesses drivers disregard the 15 mph speed limit in the area's school zone. That's why he walks his daughter home from school daily because he said he knows that an accident like Tuesday's could easily happen to his own child.
"I wasn't surprised because I've seen cars fly through here too many times to count," Cummings said. "We usually have to wait until there isn't a car coming in either direction 90 to 100 feet a because people just... they don't stop. They just speed right through."
Cummings and others said they expect better. Beaudet said she is hoping to see brighter lights and signs in the area to alert drivers.
The driver was charged with driving to endanger and issued a traffic citation for failing to yield to a crossing guard. He was not arrested.