News 12 First at Five, November 4, 2009

GRANITEVILLE, S.C.---As parents pick up and drop off their students at Byrd Elementary, they're asking some serious questions about safety.

"It's wide open, there's nothing," said Chris Harper. Harper lives across the street from the school and has a grandson who attends. "No traffic lights for these cars to get in and out, and somebody's going to get killed right here."

Harper says since the school opened two years ago, he's seen more accidents than ever before.

School officials say the main problem happens when drivers try to make a left from the school as traffic is coming up the hill. They can't see the oncoming traffic until it's practically on top of them. This school year alone, officials report at least four accidents at the intersection.

Harper says the number of accidents aren't the only cause for concern. He says speeding through what should be a school zone also raises some questions.

The speed limit here is 45 miles per hour, not a 25 mile per hour school zone. There's no traffic light near the intersection. Drivers tend to ignore the school and speed right by.

"It's several times a month close calls going on out here," Harper said. "You'll hear brakes squealing or whatever or wreck sometimes. Three, four times a month, and it's a lot I don't even see, but I know I hear close calls going on out here."

For Harper, the close calls are hitting a little too close to home. Now he and his neighbors are asking for something every other school has: a school zone and a lower speed limit.

News 12 did talk to the principal at Byrd and he says this has been an ongoing issue at the school. He says the school's working with the South Carolina Department of Transportation to get school zone signs up, but he says they haven't gotten word on when the signs will go up.