CHILDREN CITE CELL PHONE USE IN TEXAS COLLISION

Two mothers whose sons were injured when a sport utility vehicle struck the boys and a school crossing guard said the boys saw the driver using a cell phone before he crashed into them. The debate about cell phones and driving garnered more fuel this week after a Harris County deputy constable was struck and killed in Houston by a motorist who police said was talking on a cell phone.

A Texas City police officer who investigated Tuesday’s collision at 14 th Street and Palmer Highway recorded no witness statements about the driver using a cell phone, said Cpl. David Viel. But Amanda Lopez and Sylvia Mejia said their sons, Ricardo Lopez and Anthony Ramos, both 11, are adamant that they saw the driver using a cell phone.

Ramos “doesn’t remember most of what happened,” Mejia said. “He hit his head on the hood of the truck.” She said Ramos does remember seeing the cell phone. She said he stayed home from school Wednesday with bruises, bumps on his head and swollen knees.

Lopez said her son had similar injuries after the Lincoln Navigator struck him.

“Last night, he didn’t sleep all night,” Lopez said. “And he’s so worried about the crossing guard, too. The crossing guard was screaming and he (the driver) turned, and they all got hit. The next thing they knew, they were all on the ground.”

The driver, who owns a paint and body shop in Texas City, was cited for failure to observe a traffic control device, a misdemeanor. He did not return a message left with an employee at the shop. Mejia said she’s upset that the driver “just got a little-bitty old ticket.”

In Harris County, authorities said a grand jury will decide whether to prosecute a GMC Yukon driver who struck and killed Jason Norling as he was writing a traffic ticket on the shoulder of Westpark Tollway. Some legislators have vowed to continue efforts to ban use of cell phones while driving.

The crossing guard, 57-year-old Arthur Edison Jr. of Texas City, suffered a bruised hip, said his sister, Annette Auzenne. He originally feared a broken hip, she said. Edison, who police said stepped in front of the children as the vehicle approached, could not be reached for comment at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

Texas City school district spokeswoman Melissa Tortorici said Edison has shied away from all the attention. “He just keeps saying, ‘All I did was my job,’” Tortorici said. “He isn’t into any of the heroicism fanfare.” Edison was nominated in April for a staff star, a kind of employee-of-the-year re-cognition, Tortorici said.

Family and acquaintances said Edison has a good rapport with children. “As a citizen and a parent ... driving through his school zones, I’ve always hought he did a really good job,” Tortorici said. National radio talk show host Tom Joyner was eyeing Edison for his weekly “hardest working award,” which honors people who exceed expectations. Winners receive $1,000 and a certificate.

Mejia said the boys and Edison were all in the emergency room together on Tuesday. “I practically bowed down to his feet,” Mejia said. “I talked to him yesterday, and he was just making sure the kids were OK.”

Proponents of a $122.5 million November bond election in the school district have promoted some of the safety aspects of the proposed improvements. One of those includes a new Levi Fry Elementary School in a location that would largely eliminate the need for students to cross Palmer Highway on foot.