What’s the cliché? We can’t improve safety until someone gets hurt?

Well, somebody did.

Derek Caron, a 14-year-old Auburn Middle School student, got hurt.

On Sept. 26, Derek was riding his bike to school and was struck by a school bus as he was crossing the street in the crosswalk. He did everything right and still got hurt.

The teen spent nearly a week in the hospital, suffering through multiple surgeries, to repair his broken leg. He faces months of physical therapy to heal the damage.

Immediately after the accident, many parents and school staff said this was an accident waiting to happen. The morning and afternoon traffic at the intersection of the school’s driveway and Court Street is harried, with school buses, family cars, walkers and cyclists all trying to get in and out of the school grounds without benefit of a traffic light.

According to the Maine Department of Transportation, which is responsible for the state-maintained Court Street, there have to be three accidents within a specified period of time before the state might consider putting up a light. There was one accident there before Derek was hit. His injuries make two accidents. Why wait for a third? Why wait for another accident that is bound to happen? Why wait for another child to get hurt?

Several years ago, the state did redesign the intersection to create a left-turn lane into the school’s driveway, allowing other cars to move to the right to pass up the hill. But the real hazard, according to police, is traffic making left turns out of the school’s driveway. Motorists coming down that hill are often traveling too fast, and there are few breaks in the traffic, so it’s tough to make a left turn into that stream.

According to AMS Principal Kathi Cutler, when Derek was hit, a car and bus were trying to get onto Court Street from the school’s drive and the bus driver simply didn’t see Derek as he crossed. The bus driver, who has a clean driving history, isn’t to blame for the accident, Cutler said. “It’s just so hard to get out It’s very frustrating to sit there and not be able to get out in traffic.”

A traffic light would fix that.

For now, the temporary solution is for Auburn police to direct morning and afternoon traffic every day, a task that takes an officer off patrol and – taking into consideration the paid time spent by that officer to direct traffic – is not a cost-effective, long-term solution.

A traffic light is the solution.

On Tuesday, MDOT traffic engineer Steve Landry said Court Street traffic probably isn’t enough for a light, based on traffic studies. If a light is put up with too little traffic, Landry explained, it could make the situation worse.

What could be worse than a teenager getting hit by a school bus? Really?

Road policies and rules aside, isn’t there room for common sense here? Parents describe traffic as “mad house” and dangerous. The school principal acknowledges the traffic is frustrating, and city police believe the threat to students is real enough to station an officer there on twice-daily traffic duty.

Common sense dictates a traffic light. There might not be enough traffic to meet a traffic study threshold, but we’re talking about children here. And we’re talking about another accident waiting to happen.