Pomona : Students Seek Traffic Signal

Pomona High School students are circulating petitions asking the city to put traffic signals at an intersection where a 15-year-old honors student was struck and killed by a car last week.

Assistant Principal Sherman Garnett said De Ana Smith was fatally injured while crossing Orange Grove Avenue near Bangor Street on her way to the school gym, where she was going to keep statistics for a basketball game.

Police said the motorist, who did not see the girl in time to stop, was not cited.

Councilman Willie White said he has been trying to get state funding for a signal at the intersection for eight months, but that the amount of traffic and number of accidents there did not qualify it for signals under state standards. He said the city may be able to install flashing yellow lights, if not a full signal.

White also said he plans to propose that Bangor Street be renamed in honor of Smith, who maintained nearly perfect grades and was popular among her classmates. “If ever there was such a thing as a model student, she was it,” the councilman said.