A citizens’ initiative is calling on parents in Quebec to demonstrate in front of their neighborhood school on Tuesday morning to demand that elected officials take measures to put an end to road insecurity in school zones.
The promoters of the demonstrations, which are due to start around 7:30 a.m., are also demanding a government road safety strategy.
They are calling for safe developments, including one-way streets, bike paths and protective bollards, as well as more police surveillance and tough penalties for offenders.
Nearly a month and a half ago, a 7-year-old girl, Mariia Legenkovska, a Ukrainian refugee, was struck to death by a vehicle while walking towards her school in the Sainte-Marie district of Montreal. The driver, who left the scene of the impact, was arrested several hours later on the South Shore of Montreal and charged; he was provisionally released pending further legal proceedings against him.
According to the organizers of Tuesday’s protests, it is possible to prevent such a thing from happening again in 2023.
Two weeks ago, the organizations Piétons Québec, CAA-Quebec and Vivre en ville denounced the inertia of the Quebec government, calling for the implementation of measures to promote the safety of pedestrians and cyclists in particular.
The provisional report of the Société de l’assurance-automobile du Québec (SAAQ) for 2022 indicates that as of September, 39 pedestrians had lost their lives in an accident, an increase of 14.7% compared to the previous year. whole year 2021.