It was a call for change before someone else gets hurt or dies.
St. Mary's High School students stepped out of class today in
On October 7, 16-year-old Cassi Lam was seriously injured after she was struck by a Grand River Transit bus while crossing the roundabout.
Protest organizer Rachel Picquot says "The government has to do something about it or else they're going to have a lot people against them."
Students have launched a petition calling for an overhead walkway to separate kids from cars.
"I don't think roundabouts in general are dangerous" says student Val Andrews. "It's just here at the school, everybody is coming from Forest Glen, people live by here, everybody is crossing it in the morning and drivers don't slow down."
Val's father Luis Andrews is one of a number of parents taking part in the protest.
"A roundabout in front of a school, I find, it's ridiculous where hundreds and hundreds of kids have to cross the street and so many cars are coming by and they come at a fairly quick speed."
Another parent, Karen Moore, says she just wants to shift the focus on fixing the problem.
"I think the point now is not blame, but let's get something in here so these kids can cross without worrying about getting hurt."
Waterloo Regional Police were at the scene Monday morning. Constable Tim Boniface says police had to warn both pedestrians and drivers about the rules of the roundabout.
"The roundabouts are new technology and there's a bit of a learning curve to them, but they've got to watch out for pedestrians and drivers alike."
Police were concerned the protest could cause a distraction. There was at least one minor incident involving two vehicles in the roundabout.
The Region of Waterloo had considered a number of safety options when the roundabout was in its planning stages
They had suggested building a pedestrian bridge over top of the roundabout, or a tunnel beneath it. Ultimately both options were rejected, with a rough estimate of the project pegged at two-million dollars - doubling the cost of the project.
"We would have to have ramps to get people with disabilities up it, or have elevators. And either of those add significant cost" said Thomas Schmidt with the Region of Waterloo back in 2009.
