Osceola mom requests change in speed limit after neighborhood incident

 

An Osceola mother is looking to have the speed limit reduced in her neighborhood after she says a speeding car landed her 6-year-old son in the hospital.

Kimberly Garcia lives in a small residential area just north of Old U.S. 20, on Oak Drive.

Her six-year-old son, Alejandro, was riding his bicycle in front of their house when a vehicle used her street, she says, to avoid the light at the busy intersection of Old U.S. 20 and Ash Road.

While Alejandro avoided being hit, he ended up in the emergency room with a broken arm.

Garcia says she wants the speed limit to be lowered because of how residential the area is.

But she told ABC57 that her calls to the county have gone unanswered.

“He was riding his bike in the road through here,” Garcia said. “The speed limit is posted at 30 miles an hour. There was a car coming down the road, he moved to get out of her way, because she was speeding, and he fell off his bike and landed on his elbow and broke it.”

Garcia tells me she called Elkhart County multiple times to find out how she can get the speed limit lowered but claims she couldn't get anyone to provide information.

So ABC57 News contacted the Elkhart County Highway Department to find out how to get the speed limit reduced.

ABC57 left messages and sent emails, and finally received a statement that stated quote:

“Changing speed regulations requires an engineering study be completed, a recommendation be made from the Engineering Department to the Elkhart County Board of Commissioners, and an ordinance regulating the speed be passed by the Commissioners.”

The Elkhart Highway Department also gave ABC57 an email address and phone number to request an engineering study:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 574-533-0538

The department also responded to a public records request for data involving speed limit studies.

The Elkhart County Highway Department has had 29 speed study requests since 2021 but only three have resulted in a change of the speed limit.

Kim hopes by telling her story, the county will take action.