A young student was hit by the driver of a motor vehicle near Félix-Leclerc elementary school in Saint-Constant, on the South Shore of Montreal, on Tuesday. The authorities do not fear for his life.
The collision occurred around 5:05 p.m. at a pedestrian crossing on boulevard Monchamp, not far from the intersection with rue des Oliviers, 200 meters from the school.
Sandra Blouin, community and media relations officer for the Régie intermunicipale de police Roussillon, notes that a driver in her twenties had stopped to let a group of children pass who were crossing the four-lane boulevard located in a residential area. .
“The driver then drove off, but she hit a 12-year-old girl who crossed after the group,” she said.
Passers-by and motorists came to the aid of the injured youngster, who was transported by ambulance to the Anna-Laberge hospital center in Châteauguay.
According to a spokesperson for the Cooperative of Ambulance Technicians of Montérégie, the young victim had head injuries, but his life was not threatened.
The police force did not open an investigation.
The maximum speed at the place where the collision occurred is set at 50 km/h. A few meters away, the school zone begins, and the maximum speed is reduced to 30 km/h. A cycle path protected from motorized traffic has also been set up along Boulevard Monchamp.
Motorists “no longer bother”
Anthony de Sousa, who passed by the scene shortly after the collision on Tuesday, notes that Boulevard Monchamp is used by many motorists to join Route 132.
“The City has installed many crossings with priority for pedestrians on Boulevard Monchamp and elsewhere. I can’t comment on what happened in the case of this collision, but overall, it’s very little respected by motorists,” notes the resident of Saint-Constant, a city of nearly 30,000 inhabitants located on the South Shore of Montreal.
He and his neighbors are also in contact with the City to request that a mandatory stop be installed at a pedestrian crossing near his home.
Whether it’s an adult or a child who wants to cross, motorists don’t stop. It’s dangerous, especially with the size of the vehicles, which are bigger and bigger, and which cause more damage in the event of a collision.
Anthony de Sousa, resident of Saint-Constant
Mr. de Sousa also observes speeding around his home. “Driving at 70 km/h in a 50 zone is common. In school zones, people often drive above the speed limit, and it is tolerated. It seems that since the pandemic, people no longer bother themselves, ”he said, adding that the City has installed few speed bumps in Saint-Constant to encourage motorists to adopt the authorized speed.
A message for the Ministry
Stéphane Huard, director of communications for Saint-Constant, notes that bollards had been installed to mark the pedestrian crossing where the collision occurred.
We had already taken action to secure the place, but we are committed to seeing how or could make the place even safer.
Stéphane Huard, Communications Director of Saint-Constant
Also on Tuesday, a group of parents who denounce the lack of safe facilities for children who walk to school were able to meet the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Geneviève Guilbault.
“We have a clear message: that the MTQ [ministère des Transports du Québec] establish binding standards for making trips to school safe,” says Ann-Julie Rhéaume, one of the mothers mobilized for active transportation safety, and who co-organized two days of pan-Quebec mobilization earlier this year, in the after the death of schoolgirl Mariia Legenkovska, caught in Montreal on her way to school on December 13.
According to the preliminary report of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), 50 pedestrians died and 160 others were seriously injured in Quebec last year, an increase of 19% and 26% respectively compared to the report. of 2021. Among pedestrian victims of accidents causing bodily injury, children and people aged 65 and over are overrepresented in relation to their weight in the population, notes the SAAQ.