CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Another Cape Coral student hit by a car. This time it happened as he was walking to school.
15-year-old Joseph Zimmer was walking on Burnt Store Rd to get to Mariner High School Monday around 6:00 a.m. Cape Coral Police said when he crossed the street at 9th Terrace a car struck him. His mom said that car threw him into the grass and knocked him unconscious.
The crash left his face bruised, bloodied and swollen. His mom Kelly Whalen explained he now has to get dental work because the crash damaged his teeth.
She said it was a call she didn’t want to get especially after the hit and run death of 8-year-old Layla Aiken last month. She said she immediately thought the worst.
“Sheer panic. You get sick to your stomach. You feel numb,” she said.
Whalen said she’s been advocating for safer streets for years.
“I think it’s a shame that things like this have to happen for somebody to do something. I think the city needs to step up more,” she said.
So far volunteers have asked Cape Coral leaders to install more sidewalks, benches and streetlights. But Whalen said until the city changes the roads, she’ll do what she has to do to keep her son safe.
“He’s not walking to school anymore. I’ll make special arrangements and drive him,” she said.
Kelly said the driver who hit her son stayed after the crash and cooperated with the police. She said her son is still pretty shaken up he doesn’t even remember what happened, but she thinks he’ll recover just fine.
