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Family of toddler hit and killed in Adams County want safety changes and drivers to slow down

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ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. -- The family of a two-year-old boy tragically killed by a hit-and-run driver in Adams County is now urging drivers to slow down in their neighborhood.

"He's my best buddy, and it's very sad," the toddler's father, Konchock Tenzin, said.

Not far from where his son was killed, at the intersection of 156th Avenue and Lipan Sreet in Adams County, sits a sign in loving memory with a message for other drivers.

"Please drive safely," Tenzin read from the sign. "Hope nobody will need to go through this. This is not easy," he said.

The family wants to make sure other kids in the neighborhood are safe and drivers slow down.

"People drive so fast, forget about the kids," Tenzin said. "Really, people not watching or people not being careful."

A car hit little Tenzin family members said as he ran out of the home last month looking for his grandma. At the time, the driver took offbut later turned himself in to authorities.

While investigators don't know if speed played a role, neighbor Bonnie Baxter witnessed the crash.

"It's a raceway," Baxter said while describing 156th Ave.

She urged Adams County and the sheriff's office to put in a mobile radar detector, and deputies have also been out issuing tickets.

"Wanting something good to come out of something bad. That was my first goal," Baxter said. "I didn't want his death to be in vain."

Tenzin's family hopes the crackdown on drivers will make their community safer.

"Hope the city will do something," he said.

Adams County Commissioners also recently approved funding to install speed bumps on 156th Avenue. However, they still need sign off from 75 percent of the neighborhood to move forward.

Adams County will be sending the survey's out to neighbors soon, and they must be sent back the county.

If they get enough signatures, Adams County said it hopes to install the speed bumps by the end of the year.