LARGO, Fla. — A teenage boy was hit and killed walking to a bus stop, and it's a tragedy the entire Largo community feels.
A 15-year-old Largo High School student, Ethan Weiser, was crossing Belleair Road to get to his bus stop early Friday morning when he was hit.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers say the 60-year-old woman who hit him stopped. Charges are pending the investigation.
Now, Weiser’s family questions how his bus stop along Belleair Road and S. Haven Drive is considered safe.
10 Tampa Bay's Shannon Clowe brought the family's concerns to Pinellas County School officials.
A spokeswoman for the Pinellas County School District, Isabel Mascareñas explained the teen's bus stop meets state and district guidelines.
All bus stops in the state of Florida must meet state guidelines. From there, districts can create their own.
Mascareñas said the Pinellas County School District has their own stringent guidelines that the teen’s bus stop does meet.
So how do officials determine what location can be a bus stop? Once it meets state and district guidelines, there's a physical survey done to confirm it meets all requirements.
People who live and walk in the area of Weiser's bus stop explained it's really dark early in the morning and late at night because there are no lights in that area.
District officials said cities and counties are the ones who install lights at bus stops.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to Pinellas County officials and Largo City officials on Friday night to see if they plan to install lights along Belleair Road after the teen’s death. We are still waiting for their response.
Pinellas County district officials said there are no plans to change or get rid of the bus stop. 10 Tampa Bay asked if they are making any changes to Weiser's bus stop to make it safe for kids, the response was, “not at this time.”
Weiser’s family feels strongly that the area isn’t safe for kids to walk to their bus.
10 Tampa Bay found out what it would take to get rid of a bus stop. According to Mascareñas, a complaint would need to be filed with the Pinellas County Schools Transportation Department.
Transportation officials would send out a safety team to assess the bus stop. That team would do a physical audit of the area. That means teams would walk a student’s path to the bus stop. Officials would also drive the bus driver’s route to the stop. From there, the team would determine if any adjustments are needed.
District officials said no complaints have been filed at the teen’s bus stop in the last three years.