State agrees to safety change along Clark County site of deadly school bus crash

Wilson’s son Liam — a 6th grader at Northwestern — was a passenger on the school bus when a 2010 Honda Odyssey driven by Hermanio Joseph, 35, went left of center on Troy Road colliding with the bus. The bus was forced off the road and came to rest on its top on the side of the road.

Wilson said now when driving her son to school on Troy Road, she has observed people crossing the center line in their vehicles. She noticed center line rumble stripes when traveling a different road and determined that rumble stripes might help prevent another tragedy on Troy Road.

Rumble stripes — ODOT’s official term — are a road safety feature to alert inattentive drivers of potential danger by causing a tactile vibration and audible rumbling transmitted through the wheels into the vehicle interior.

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Wilson reached out to German Twp. Trustee Rodney Kaffenbarger, who supported the initiative. Troy Road is a state route, thus Kaffenbarger guided Wilson to ODOT district 7.

In a newly released statement, ODOT said following a recent engineering evaluation of Ohio 41/Troy Road in Clark County, the agency has determined that center line rumble stripes can be applied to the section of roadway from Miller Road to the eastern limit of North Hampton without reducing pavement quality.

“This updated safety feature will provide increased awareness for motorists traveling along SR 41,” ODOT said in its statement. “At the time of the route’s last resurfacing project in 2016, ODOT’s design standards did not prescribe the installation of center line rumble stripes; however, there are rumble stripes along the exterior shoulders through this section of roadway.”

ODOT has hired a contractor to complete the work in the coming weeks, the agency said.

Wilson said she is grateful for everyone who supported the initiative for rumble stripes, spread the word and reached out to ODOT.

“It makes me feel grateful and thankful that so many people were beside me on this,” she said.

“Seeing the relief and excitement on my son’s face when I told him we’re getting rumble strips made my momma heart so happy,” Wilson said. “It may not mean the same to others as it does for us, but we never felt nothing less than support and love. I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”