On December 1, 2014 at around 5:30 P.M., Destiny Gonzalez, a 7-year-old Springfield girl was crossing State Street in front of the Springfield Library with her mother and her 8-year-old cousin in order to get to their car situated in the Parking lot of the facility. The parking lot for the facility is directly across the street from the Library, making it difficult for people to decide to walk the equivalent of an extra block to get to their car right across the street. While crossing the street, all three of the family members were gravely struck by a drunk driver causing serious injuries to the 38-year-old mother and the 8 year-old cousin. Destiny, unfortunately, passed away two days later at Baystate Medical Center.

There are many factors that contributed to the death of this child. Drunk driving and speeding being the number one cause, but we can’t control people from making idiotic decisions. We can, however, ask to work on the factors that are controllable, such as the poor lighting, adding a crosswalk, and a pedestrian light or a traffic light since the distance between lights is so far. This will not bring Destiny back, but it will reduce the risk of another tragic event from happening again.

We, the undersigned are concerned citizens who urge our leaders to act now and to enhance safety around public facilities visited by so many children. Again, we need a pedestrian light or a traffic light directly across the Central Library in State St, Springfield Massachusetts. We also need better lighting; we need the city lights to be replaced with LED streetlights. Let’s all work together for a safer tomorrow.