A crossing guard caught by a motorist in the north of Montreal

A crossing guard was hit by a motorist late Tuesday afternoon in northern Montreal. However, no criminal offense is involved according to the authorities, who speak rather of an “unfortunate accident”. However, the event revives the debate on the dangers of road safety in the metropolis.

The incident occurred around 4 p.m. Tuesday. At the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), spokesperson Raphaël Bergeron claims that the crossing guard was hit by a motorist while she was traveling westbound on rue Prieur and that she made a turn. on the right, towards the north, on avenue Papineau.

“At the same time, the crossing guard was returning to her street corner, after having probably made people cross. She too was facing her green light, just like the motorist. This is where there would have been a collision. The driver automatically stopped and contacted 911 herself,” explains Mr. Bergeron.

The latter speaks of a “combination of circumstances” and an “unfortunate accident”, confirming that no criminal offense was detected by the investigators, who collected the testimonies on the spot after the collision. Transported to the hospital after the fact, the brigadier suffered minor injuries which do not, however, put her life in danger.

The intersection in question, located at the limit of the border between Montréal-Nord and Ahuntsic-Cartierville, has two alternating lanes on rue Prieur and six alternating lanes on avenue Papineau. A bike path, installed over the past year, is also on rue Prieur in both directions.

Ongoing reflections

Asked about the shortage of crossing guards and the dangers associated with their profession, the person in charge of mobility on the executive committee of Montreal, Sophie Mauzerolle, had opened the door at the beginning of the week to new measures. “In recent years, we have already increased the budgets for school crossing guards, which was a first for many years. But if there are additional resources to give, we will,” she said.

According to M^me Mauzerolle, the City is currently “thinking” about the possibility of mobilizing other actors around school corridors, including the Sustainable Mobility Agency (AMD), whose role has been called upon to grow for a few months already.

“All options are on the table and we will look at that in the coming weeks,” insisted the manager, referring to “other announcements to come” on this subject in the coming weeks.

“There are several strategies. It is certain that parents and school communities can challenge their neighborhood stations, we do it too because we still have some expertise in our territory, so we submit certain requests to the SPVM. They have a grid of criteria to ensure that the crossing guards are put in the best places according to school corridors, so they respect an analysis grid, ”also detailed Ms.^me Mauzerolle.

At the SPVM, it is also specified that a recruitment campaign is underway to find crossing guards. “At this time, the vast majority of full-time positions are filled and supernumerary positions remain vacant,” said a spokesperson for the police department, in an emailed response to questions from The Press.

“As in many other sectors of the economy, the labor shortage is being felt. Not to mention that the job of crossing guard comes with an atypical schedule, that is to say a cut off workday, which follows the movements of the children in the morning, noon and afternoon,” he adds.

With Isabelle Ducas, The Press