Fayetteville crossing guard eager to return after getting hit by SUV

Betty Carter, 68, was trying to stop traffic in front of William Owen Elementary School when she stepped off the curb into Raeford Road and was struck by the SUV.

"I don't know what happened this time, and that is the truth. I couldn't believe that I walked out there with a stop sign and here comes this car just about on me," Carter said. "He said he didn't see me. He thought he was blinded by the sun."

The SUV, driven by Terry Garner, 64, of Laurinburg, knocked Carter to the blacktop, breaking her left arm above the elbow.

No children walk across the busy road. The crossing guards stop traffic for school buses entering and leaving the elementary school.

Witnesses told police that Garner's SUV was traveling 15 to 20 mph at the time of the crash and that Carter failed to wait for traffic to stop. No charges were filed.

"I guess he wouldn't have hit me if he had seen me, and I wouldn't have been hit if I'd have known that he was going to stop," Carter said. "So, I guess both of us are at fault here."

The grandmother and retired cafeteria worker said she can't wait to get back to duty as a crossing guard.

"I want my school back. I've never been afraid, and I won't be afraid this time," she said.