The face of Damien Hocker on a sign at the intersection of MacDade Boulevard and Fairview Road serves as a reminder of what happened earlier this year.
The high school junior was killed in April while walking home. His family is calling for action ahead of the school year.
It's been four months since the Hockers lost their son, but it doesn't feel that long to them.
For the first time, they returned to McDade Boulevard and Fairview Road in Woodlyn, Delaware County.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
The Hockers said the 17-year-old Ridley High School junior was hit by a car while walking home from the gym.
"It’s something that’s likely to happen again if something isn’t done to make the intersection safer," his mother Elizabeth Hocker said.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
With school starting next week out here, they have a renewed urgency to call for changes at this corner and others nearby.
The family started a petition with more than 1,500 signatures.
His parents are calling on lawmakers to help build footbridges for students, create more crosswalks, enforce existing traffic laws, and get rid of the turn right on red law.
"You’ll see large groups of kids walking up and down these streets and people are racing down this road just to get to the highway," his father Doug Hocker explained.
As they tell their story, they told NBC10 that more families are sharing their close calls and nightmares from this area.
We're told at least one state lawmaker is asking for a traffic safety study to help with changes.
The Hockers are hoping that happens before another tragedy.
"We need to protect people who don’t have the privilege of driving a car, young people, elderly people, young people don’t always have a voice to advocate for themselves," Hocker said.
Their son Damian was their life. Now, they're fighting for change so another student's family doesn't go through the same heartbreak.
