A Billings crossing guard says she is witnessing close calls nearly every day, and she is calling for police to patrol her school crossing after at least five children have been struck by vehicles in Billings and Laurel since September.
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For half a decade, Linda Walton has spent every school morning at a crossing just up the street from Poly Drive Elementary near Arvin and Rimrock Road. Each morning, she walks in front of traffic with one goal.
"My job is to keep kids safe," Walton said.
Walton says holding her red stop sign and activating the flashing yellow lights isn't enough to get drivers to stop for children crossing.
She described one Thursday morning that showed how quickly a routine street crossing nearly turned deadly, when two drivers came speeding through the crosswalk.
"Then these two cars flew through going east to west," Walton said. "If those kids would have stepped out in the street, five kids could have died."
Her concern comes during a difficult few months for Billings-area roads. Since Sept. 1, at least five children have been struck by vehicles in Billings and Laurel, including an accident that led to the death of 13-year-old Chase Lantz.
Those crashes didn't all happen on Rimrock Road, but for Walton, they've made the danger she watches every morning hard to ignore. She says she wants officers patrolling the area.
Placing an officer at the crossing every morning may not be simple. Billings Mayor Mike Nelson says the city has started having school resource officers patrol outside school buildings when they are available.
"As a result of the incident at Will James (where Lantz was killed), the police department has dispatched the SROs," Nelson said.
Nelson says there is another challenge: Billings is growing, and more people means more vehicles sharing the roads.
"Billings has 1,230 lane miles. And if we have 10 or 15 patrol vehicles out, you don't have a lot of density there," Nelson said. "Right now we're stretching our resources as far as we can."
Nelson says more traffic doesn't have to mean more crashes. He is urging drivers to focus on the road.
"Not talk on their phones or not drive distracted and follow the law and pay attention to what they're doing," Nelson said.
Whatever comes next, Walton will be back at the crossing on Monday morning, with a simple message for drivers.
"Just pay attention. Slow down. It's five minutes. Five minutes," Walton said.
Related: Crossing guard’s video shows dangers in Billings school zone
