Westerville Council Takes First Step Toward Tougher Distracted Driving Penalties Amid Community Safety Push
The Westerville City Council approved a motion Tuesday night to draft a new law increasing penalties for distracted driving that causes a crash or injury. The action follows growing neighborhood efforts around Annehurst Elementary to push for safer streets, stronger enforcement, and improved infrastructure near the school.
The motion was proposed by Councilmember Aaron Glasgow, who supported a community effort to make the intersection of West Main Street, Old Coach Road, and Hanby Place safer for children.
Michael Batchelder, an Annehurst resident for 10 years and father of three children who walk to school, said concerns about speeding and distracted driving have persisted in the neighborhood for years. The 1997 death of eight-year-old Kathy Watson at Old Coach Road and Main Street underscored the risks for children and families traveling on foot or by bicycle.
Batchelder partnered with longtime local advocate David Roseman and began meeting with city planners earlier this year to discuss walkability near the school and safe access to Sharon Woods. The talks evolved into a broader coalition involving parents, the neighborhood association, the PTA, and district leaders.
Annehurst's new principal, Jason Fullen, along with a school resource officer and school board member Anisa Laban, joined the discussions. One of the initial safety measures was the installation of a temporary stop sign and cones at the school driveway exit to reduce conflicts between vehicles and crossing children.
Fullen suggested volunteers document pedestrian traffic to support a request for an additional crossing guard. With the help of neighbor Marty Freado’s volunteer network, residents spread out to intersections for a week, counting cars and walkers at Main and Granby and Old Coach. Freado said her team’s observations were alarming: dozens of cars ran red lights during dismissal, and many drivers glanced down at their phones while children crossed.
“I was shocked at how many people were distracted,” she said, recalling near misses on her daily walks to Sharon Woods.
Among the volunteers was Karl Kuntz, a retired journalist who has been struck three times while walking or cycling in Chicago and Columbus. What he witnessed at Main and Granby convinced him to avoid the intersection entirely.
“People aren’t watching, and they’re in a hurry. Someone’s going to get hurt,” Kuntz said. He supports a school-hour ban on left turns onto Main Street and alternate routing for parent pick-up traffic.
The counts brought momentum. Elected officials, including Councilmember Aaron Glasgow and School Board President Christy Meyer, along with city staff, came out to observe conditions firsthand, seeing for themselves distracted drivers. City Engineer Nate Lang said the city plans to adjust the traffic signal timing so that all lights remain red long enough for children to reach the midpoint of the intersection before any cars receive a green light. He added that new signage is under consideration, though no changes have been finalized.
Batchelder said long-term solutions may require larger investments: flashing beacons, redesigned intersections, medians, and a complete rethinking of Main Street’s layout through the neighborhood.
“Main Street is designed for a 35-mile-an-hour speed limit,” he said, acknowledging that people often speed on the roadway. “It’s a long, wide straightaway. People are going to drive that way until that changes.”
The neighborhood push dovetailed with Glasgow’s proposal for tougher distracted driving enforcement, which now moves forward as a city initiative. Batchelder said the lawmaking process is separate from the neighborhood’s efforts, but both issues—speeding and phone use behind the wheel—combine to endanger children.
Community support has been strong, with hundreds of positive responses and only a few complaints, Batchelder said. Volunteers even stepped in to help when the school’s crossing guard was on leave—Principal Fullen himself took a turn at the crosswalk.
For Batchelder, the work is just beginning.
“There’s no one perfect solution, but certainly one of them would be drivers not looking at their phones,” he said. He believes that lasting change will require infrastructure, communication, and a neighborhood speaking with one voice.
The Westerville News is a reader-supported publication by Gary Gardiner, a lifelong journalist who believes hyper-local reporting is the future of news. This publication focuses exclusively on Westerville—its local news, influence on Central Ohio, and how surrounding areas shape the community.
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