Girl, 6, hit by car at site where Franklin Park neighbors have been demanding stop sign

FRANKLIN PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- A 6-year-old girl was hit by a car in the street outside her Franklin Park home.

Her mom, and neighbors, say it didn't have to happen - because they've asked the village, for years, to put in a stop sign.

But as CBS 2's Sara Machi reported Thursday, no such thing has happened.

On a four-block stretch of Rose Street, there are no stop signs. But there is a school crossing.

Neighbors say they have asked for a stop sign instead to slow traffic always - fearing someone would get hurt. On Wednesday, someone did.

Mariela Velasquez said her daughter, Ximena Duran, was left with a skull fracture, broken arm, and swelling after the 6-year-old ran ahead of her mom into the street - just inches out of Velasquez's reach.

"I just see my daughter fly, and it was very painful," Velasquez said. "Like, I'm crying now - because seeing your child, you just get stuck there, and you don't know what to do."

Velasquez says her daughter -- who has Down syndrome - is nonverbal. 

So Velasquez herself is speaking out - being her daughter's voice, and asking for more safety measures on their street.

She had been afraid something like this would happen.

"Yes, because I've seen it myself," Velasquez said.

She said she saw a car come close to hitting a bike. Another neighbor said at least two residents have had to replace their decks that were hit by cars – and a nearby tree was hit multiple times.

Neighbors like Nick Fredrickson say they've been asking for more safety measures. Frederickson says he's gone to the village twice to ask for help in getting a stop sign put up.

He said the village first told him the light was too close to a traffic signal. The second time, the village told him they needed to conduct a safety study.

But this accident, Fredrickson said, is all the proof they need that the situation is unsafe.

"I got a 3-year-old son," Fredrickson said. "I sure don't feel safe walking him to school. He's not walking to school by himself when he gets older."

As Velasquez waits for her daughter's release from the hospital, she just waiting to see what happens next.

"It could've been – it could be somebody else's kid," said Velasquez. "It could be somebody's grandma, somebody's uncle – anybody."

Velasquez says the driver who hit her daughter did try to slow down and serve - and stayed on the scene afterward.

Frederickson says he and other neighbors plan to attend the Village of Franklin Park's regularly scheduled meeting Monday with the president and board of trustees - voicing their concern about what happened.