A 17-year-old boy was medflighted to UF Health Jacksonville Monday after he was hit by a car while skateboarding near Nease High School.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office reported that Kristian Edward Mensching was skateboarding from the apartments located across the street from the high school shortly after 1:30 p.m. Dec. 12 when he was struck by a car traveling west on Ray Road. According to witnesses – who said the car was traveling at approximately 25 miles per hour – Mensching never stopped to wait for oncoming traffic. Mensching was not a student at Nease, the sheriff’s office said.
Traffic Unit deputies continue to investigate the accident, which occurred not far from the intersection of Ray Road and US 1, where two Nease High School students were critically injured in a car accident last month. That accident prompted renewed calls from the community for a traffic light to be put at the busy intersection. Two Nease High School students initiated petitions calling for installation of a stoplight, which the Florida Department of Transportation says it has fast tracked in response to the public outcry.
In an interview with the Ponte Vedra Recorder following last month’s accident, FDOT spokesman Ron Tittle said the proposed traffic signal had received funding for fiscal year 2017-2018, which begins in July 2017, but the agency hoped to expedite the design and review process to speed up the light’s installation.
The two-lane Ray Road is the sole point of access to Nease High School, which at the start of the school year had an enrollment of 2,193 students.
