A white scooter was unveiled Saturday in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, near the road where young Al Housseini Diacko was mowed down by a car last June. “His death changed the neighbourhood,” laments Abdoulaye Ba, the 14-year-old’s uncle.
Around thirty people gathered on Saturday morning to inaugurate the small memorial erected at the end of the Parc de Mésy, near the busy Rue Lachapelle.
“When you think of Al Housseini, you think of happiness,” Mohammed Keita, the teenager’s best friend, said in his speech. “Since his death, I haven’t been able to sleep at night,” he added, before withdrawing and bursting into tears.
On June 24, Al Housseini Diacko was riding his new electric scooter home from a Saint-Jean-Baptiste party at Parc de Mésy. As the boy was crossing Rue Lachapelle, a car hit him in front of his family who were following him on foot.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Aminata Diacko and Mamadou Diacko, the parents of the young victim, hope that their son’s death will prompt the City of Montreal to calm traffic on Lachapelle Street.
Between tears and hugs, the teenager’s relatives made the same request one after the other, at the unveiling of the scooter: that the speed limit be reduced on Lachapelle Street, where the maximum is currently 50 km/h. “We really hope that the City will act so that this does not happen again,” added Mamadou Diacko, the father of the young victim.
The tragic death of Al Housseini Diacko still weighs on the residents of the neighborhood, including Bakary Fanny, a friend of the grieving family, who now hesitates to let his children play in the Parc de Mésy without his supervision. “Now, every time my children cross the street, I am stressed,” the father said.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Al Housseini Diacko was crossing Lachapelle Street on his new electric scooter when a vehicle hit him.
Solutions
This is the first memorial dedicated to a child installed by the organization Souliers et Vélos fantômes Québec, whose members were on site to host the inauguration ceremony. “We don’t have exact numbers, but almost every day, we receive reports of incidents between motorists and cyclists or pedestrians,” said Séverine Le Page, spokesperson for the organization.
However, there are many solutions to prevent a tragedy like Al Housseini Diacko’s death from happening again, according to the spokesperson. “Throughout Montreal, we have put up speed bumps or reduced the speed limit on several streets. Why not here?”
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Lowering the speed limit on Lachapelle Street could prevent fatal accidents, according to Séverine Le Page.
The mayor of the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, Émilie Thuillier, said that she and her team were considering changing the speed limit on Lachapelle Street on the sidelines of the ceremony. But replacing a sign will not be enough, according to the elected official. “We will also have to ensure that the law is respected, for example by installing automatic radars on the roads,” she stressed.
In 2023, 71 cyclists and 179 pedestrians were seriously injured on the road, according to data from the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ). However, the trend is downward, thanks in particular to the increase in facilities for cyclists in cities, according to Jean-François Rheault, CEO of Vélo Québec.
“Considering that the practice [du cyclisme] “The number of accidents has increased a lot and the number of accidents is decreasing, the practice is safer than it was 30 years ago,” he added.