HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — Sunday afternoon, members of the Highlands Ranch community joined 13-year-old Alex Mackiewicz's friends and neighbors to honor his memory while pushing for change on the busy stretch of road where he died.
Alex was hit by a driver at the corner of Highlands Ranch Parkway and Venneford Ranch Road Wednesday morning while he was riding his one-wheel to school.
"He was just really special," said Brianna Badini, a friend of Alex and a seventh-grade student at Mountain Ridge Middle School.
"He was really funny. He'd always bring a smile on my face no matter how I was feeling, and I feel like I could talk to him about a lot of stuff," Brianna said.
"It's just been hard going to school and his desk being empty because you know he used to sit there and it's just really hard," she said.
Friends said Alex was a car fanatic. So a mix of classic cars, fast cars, sports cars and family cars hit the road Sunday afternoon, driving in Alex's memory down Highlands Ranch Parkway to the corner of Venneford Ranch Road.
“We could have never imagined the support that’s here today," said Ashley Lambert, who helped organize the car cruise memorial.
Those gathered hope to see slower, safer driving on this road.
"It's just terrible to know that someone right across the street lost their life because of someone else. It just hurts," said Taylor Armock, a ninth-grade student at Mountain Vista High School. "Like that is in the driver's control. It has nothing to do with the kid."
“I really want it to be safer," said Daisy Gross, an eighth-grade student at Mountain Ridge. "We shouldn’t be scared to go to school."
The plea for safety is too late for Alex, but not for the other students who still have to cross that same busy stretch of road.
"I just really want to see a change, because I don't want to be scared to walk across an intersection when I'm doing the right thing," Brianna said.
Organizers of Sunday's memorial drive said they want to see more visible traffic signals, enhanced crosswalks and increased law enforcement in that area to make that stretch of road safer.
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