Melissa Simental saw the whole thing happen right before her eyes.
"She just started crossing and the car was coming, and the car was coming fast," said Simental.
A student at Vernon Middle School in Harlingen was hit by a car while walking across the street Wednesday morning.
"He hit her, she flipped up in the air, and she landed on his window,” she remembered. “Then she kind of landed to the side, and he kept driving."
Simental says witnesses flagged down the driver and got him to pull over, while they waited for police to arrive at the scene.
"Everybody was telling him stuff, of course, because he had just hit a little girl,” said Simental. “But he was just kind of like in a daze."
Simental and her friend, Leilani Reyes, both have children that attend Vernon Middle School, and feel police don't take enough preventative measures on behalf of the kids.
“They told me, 'well, call when it's happening,'” said Reyes, referring to her constant complaints to police about distracted drivers. “Well, we're not supposed to be on the phone in a school zone for one, and by then, it's already happened. They need to prevent it.”
Reyes and Simental say they have seen drivers act distracted and speed through the area, an area that should not be considered dangerous.
"This is supposed to be a safe zone for your kids to be able to cross comfortably, and not feel that they have to be on the lookout," said Simental.
The mothers feel a police officer needs to be present before and after school to ensure the safety of their children.
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