KEARNS, Utah — A temporary crossing guard has been positioned at the crosswalk where a 12-year-old boy was struck and killed last week while riding his bike to Kearns Junior High School.
The guard was in place at the crosswalk on 4140 West for the first time on Monday and will remain there throughout the week.
"After this week, we may not end up with a crossing guard there, but that's to be determined," said Kearns precinct chief Levi Hughes with the Unified Police Department.
On Thursday, Adam Mahamat was hit by an SUV before school had started. He was transported to the hospital where he later died of his injuries.
Hughes said that witnesses and video used in a preliminary investigation into the incident show Mahamat driving his bike directly into the crosswalk before he was hit, failing to use the push signal to cross safely.
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The crosswalk is outfitted with stripes and includes a median, leaving officials to look into what happened and how accidents can be prevented in the future.
"This investigation is about a tragedy," said Hughes. "It's not about anything else, and our detectives will continue to look at all the different facts that led up to this and we'll make changes. We'll do things differently."
Unified Police plans on studying where crosswalk signs are currently placed and where the road is marked.
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"Even though we have an individual who ended up riding straight into traffic, what are the reasons why he did that? What led to that? What other issues can we do or address to help traffic see pedestrians better?," Hughes added.
Hughes shared that the incident investigation showed that traffic appeared to be fairly normal in the area and that the driver of the SUV has fully cooperated with police.
