A 12-year-old boy named Hunter Combs was crossing a street with his friends Monday evening in South Charleston, West Virginia, when a car struck him. The Dunbar Middle School sixth grader died at the hospital. His mother wrote on a GoFundMe page that he loved TikTok, Snapchat, and spending time outside with his brothers, and that he was taken from the family way too soon.
The crash has stirred up something that plays out in communities across the country, including here on the Suncoast. Neighbors say the intersection has long been too dark and that drivers speed through it. State transportation officials say the traffic lights are working and the street lights were recently upgraded to LEDs. South Charleston’s mayor says the area will be reviewed. The school is providing grief counselors for students, who are processing a loss that no assembly or announcement can soften.
If this story hits close to home, that’s because it should. Pedestrian safety near crosswalks, school zones, and beachside intersections is a shared responsibility, and it’s worth asking whether our own neighborhoods have a corner that worries us after dark. What’s the one intersection in your area you wish someone would fix? Tell us in the comments.
