INDIANAPOLIS — Five children and two adults were injured in a crash involving a school bus at an intersection with a missing stop sign Monday morning on the northeast side, police said.
The crash occurred at 7:10 a.m. at the intersection of East 25th and North Dearborn streets, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. All injuries were non-life threatening.
Police said the driver of an Indianapolis Public Schools bus was traveling south on North Dearborn Street and did not stop at East 25th Street because the stop sign was missing. The bus hit a car that was traveling through the intersection and collided with a fence in a nearby yard.
Five children were transported to Riley Hospital for Children, while the adults were taken to other area hospitals.
The stop sign was found lying against the side of Pleasant Union United Missionary Baptist Church at the corner of the intersection.
Church Pastor, Gregory Allen says the sign was knocked down during a crash last week.
“When the snow started,” said Allen.
It’s not the first time the sign has been missing. Allen says in October, another crash occurred at the intersection and the sign was knocked down. The side of his church was also damaged at the time. It’s still under construction.
“There’s been multiple accidents at this corner not all due to missing stop signs, but people just coming through this intersection not paying attention, speeding and what have you,” said Allen.
A neighbor, who did not want to share her name, says crashes happen often at 25th and Dearborn, “They need to do something about this intersection because within a month we have at least 4 accidents here.”
She, and other neighbors, tell WRTV they noticed the stop sign was missing.
“ If the sign has been on the ground for a long long time I think the city should be responsible for putting it back up,” said Joe Escamilla who owns a property in the area.
Ben Easley with the Indianapolis Department of Public Works says they were unaware that the stop sign was missing until today. The Indy DPW traffic team responds to missing signage. There is also a standby crew overnight to replace signs if they are reported missing after hours.
When residents contact the Mayor’s Action Center or RequestIndy, it triggers a service request with the Department of Public Works. Residents should not assume an issue has been reported. Easley says they have no way of knowing about this type of issue unless they hear about it from the public.
Two new signs were installed at the intersection around noon on Monday.
If you need to report a signage issue or other problem to the city you can visit Mayors Action Center
