Skateboarding student death highlights state rules

TIFT CO., GA (WALB) - "I just don't want this to happen to anybody else."

Those are words from a Tift County man mourning the loss of a teen brother-in-law, killed Wednesday morning on his way to school.

17-year-old Chance King was riding his skateboard down Ferry Lake Road when he was hit just after 7 a.m. The family is upset Chance had to ride his skateboard to school. State funding won't pay for buses to pick up students who live within one mile of their school.

But it may not be easy to change that.

The skateboard is now broken in half - evidence of the tragic accident.

"He was running late to school; he hopped on his skateboard, was headed to school and he got hit right over here on this bridge," said his brother-in-law Noe Hernandez.

Chance King was killed less than 200 yards from his house and only a mile from school.

"It's not fair. I don't want this to happen to anyone else. You know, you have a loved one; you think they'd be safe on the way to school and then this happens," said Hernandez.

School officials say state lawmakers nixed those routes in an effort to save money. This accident is a tragic by-product of that decision.

"It's always something you worry about but I don't necessarily know that the state could take that on and then find the funding to do that," said Tift County Spokeswoman Stacey Beckham.

In the meantime, the school district did send help to grieving students and faculty at the high school.

"We made sure today to bring extra counselors from other schools over to the high school for this student to work with his friends and classmates to make sure they had that emotional support they needed today," said Beckham.

His family said it's the emotional support that they may need for a while.

"He's a good kid. Goes to school; he worked part time at Papa John's. Everybody loved him," said Hernandez.

Justin Waldschlager was the driver of the truck that hit King. The Georgia State Patrol is investigating, but they don't expect charges to be filed.

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