EUSTIS, Fla. — Changes were made 24 hours after Channel 9 reported about a dangerous route parents said their children were being forced to take to school.
Some Eustis Middle School parents said they were upset that school bus service for their children had been canceled.
Bus service had ended along East Orange Avenue, leaving children to walk without sidewalks next to traffic moving at 50 mph. But bus service has been restored as of Monday morning.
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The district said the drop from 55 mph to 50 mph on the roadway in the area moved the route off the hazardous list.
The stopping distance between the two speeds is about 31 feet.
Parents said they don't think the 5 mph difference was enough to make the route safe.
"That was ridiculous to expect children to make that kind of (a) dangerous walk when we as adults -- we wouldn't want to do it, if we didn't have to," parent Christian Wood said.
She contacted Channel 9 after posting about the bus route on Facebook.
"You aired the story on Wednesday and Thursday," she said. "I got a phone call from Mr. Gamble that he was making phone calls and deeply researching what happened and where the mistake was."
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Lake County School Board Chairman Sandy Gamble told Channel 9 he walked the route Thursday morning.
"I wouldn't want to walk it every day," he said. "The kids would need hiking boots."
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Gamble said the speed limit was dropped to 50 mph in the area, and that is why the service was canceled.
He said he contacted the superintendent to re-establish the bus service.
"I just want to say I am really grateful," Wood said. "I want to say thank you to Eyewitness News for taking the story and helping make it something that the whole public was aware of."
Experts said 90 percent of the people hit by a car going 20 mph survive. Double that speed and odds of surviving are less than 10 percent.
The district said it is taking another look at the policy and reaching out to the state, hoping to make some changes.
Officials said they are also talking with the county about adding sidewalks and crosswalks to the route in order to make it safer.
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