Police aren’t pursuing charges against the driver of a van that allegedly struck a Santa Ynez high school student in front her school, a California Highway Patrol official told the Sun.
Carina Velazquez, a 15-year-old Santa Ynez Valley Union High School student, was leaving an FFA meeting after school on March 26 and crossed Highway 246 in front of the high school when she was hit by the van.
Velazquez was transported to a hospital in Santa Barbara but later succumbed to her injuries. Investigators recently said they believe the driver is not at fault for the accident.
According to CHP Officer John Ortega, the agency determined that the driver entered the intersection of 246 and N. Refugio Road legally and that Velazquez didn’t have the right of way but was crossing the road “against the red hand.”
“We determined that it appeared she was not in the crosswalk, but very close to it,” Ortega said. “She shouldn’t have been where she was.”
The driver, an 83-year-old female from Lompoc, wasn’t arrested after the incident, he said.
High school Superintendent Scott Cory told the Sun that he was aware of the CHP’s finding, adding that Velazquez’s parents have not been in contact with the school since then.
Velazquez’s parents could not be reached for comment.
Shortly after the student’s death, school officials started scrambling to find a way to make the highway safer for students to cross. On April 29, school officials and residents gathered meeting in the theater of SYVUHS to hash out ideas.
Those ideas ranged from adding rumble strips to the road, to building a footbridge over the highway. Cory said several of the suggestions are being considered.
A focus group consisting of several state and local officials, including county Supervisor Doreen Farr and CHP officials, was formed to figure out a long-term solution.
Paul McClintic, a Caltrans district traffic engineer in San Luis Obispo, said temporary measures are currently being taken while a more permanent solution is found.
“We’ve already ordered bright, shiny, higher-intensity lighting for the school warning signs,” McClintic said.
This article appears in May 14-21, 2015.