The difficult sharing of the road

The drama of the little girl mown down by a driver on her way to school did not fail to make our readers react. Here is an overview of the emails received.

Nothing surprising

It’s not at all surprising that there are so many accidents. I have taken the same route or almost (in Rosemont, between boulevard Saint-Michel and rue Saint-Hubert) every day for more than four years. I see offenses on bicycles, on foot, by car. Excessive speed, U-turn, crossing on a red light or anywhere (pedestrians and cyclists), overtaking on the right, bicycles without lights at night, cars with missing headlights, etc. And I never see the police. Go see…

Yolande Dumont

Concrete actions

Why not put speed bumps in all school sectors? Why not put photo radars in our streets? Because relying on the goodwill of people is not enough. Indiscipline is our daily life and it’s been worse since the pandemic. People behind the wheel are disrespectful, vindictive and increasingly intolerant. Only concrete dissuasive actions can allow us to dream of a more harmonious sharing of our streets.

Lucie Forte

Never consequences

I read this morning the cover of this tragic drama, and I feel a lot of cynicism. We are talking about no longer giving way to cars, but that should start by making motorists responsible for their driving. The risk that there will be a consequence for speeding is practically nil; we are not even talking about dangerous manoeuvres, the risk is insignificant…until there is an accident. Moreover, we know that in Quebec the police tolerate people going over the speed limit. What is the value of a rule that you don’t have to follow?

Simon Lachaine

More attentive pedestrians

Pedestrians should also be educated to be more attentive when crossing the streets, to look on each side and to remove the earphones from their smart phones.

Louis Lamoureux

large vehicles

There is also the size of the vehicles, for example SUVs and pickup trucks pickup very fashionable, take up all the space and are high, which makes it difficult for drivers to see pedestrians or cyclists. Not to mention the mandatory stops barely made or the advancement of vehicles very close to pedestrians to make them hurry… not to say intimidate them.

Maureen Zappa

We are negligible entities

Although the reality of the suburbs is a little different, it is also dangerous for pedestrians. In order to save on snow removal, among other things, there have been no sidewalks for pedestrians in residential boroughs for a long time. We are obliged to share the road with motorists and anything on the road, and to weave between parked cars. Sometimes a simple white line drawn on the asphalt gives us a space that we have to share with the increasingly motorized bicycles. Winter is even worse, the snow pushed along the street by the City occupies the little space left for pedestrians. The speed has been reduced to 30 km in my city, but almost 50% of drivers do not respect it. We only walk during the day, without really feeling safe. We are negligible entities for the municipal authorities responsible for the safety of citizens.

Marie-Josee Laurin, Blainville

I’m mad

I’m mad. What a tragedy, this young girl fatally caught in Montreal. In the past year, faced with certain threats, you politicians have been quick to call for more protection. But, tell me, what are you doing to ensure that of your population beyond your speeches? It was the 19^e loss of life of a pedestrian in Montreal this year. Since 2016 in this district, a citizens’ committee has been asking for increased security measures.

On average, a pedestrian dies every five days in Quebec. Sixteen cyclists lost their lives in 2021 (I don’t have the count for 2022). Add to that the fatal accidents which are also increasing among road flaggers.

And if we change category, 47 people burned to death during the Mégantic tragedy. We are still sticking to the trajectory of the new bypass and we are continuing to allow the transportation of hazardous materials by train in inhabited areas.

And I haven’t talked about the healthcare-related deaths yet… which we don’t have.

Come on, tell me what you actually do for our safety?

To add fuel to the fire over the girl’s death, our Premier François Legault, who has access to a panoply of advisers and specialists, declared that “the majority of motorists observe speed limits in school areas. As recently as October, CAA-Quebec had just demonstrated the exact opposite. Bravo, Prime Minister, you are not saying anything…

In Bromont where I live, we are about forty citizens of an area where there are many children who have filed a petition with the mayor and the City to stop all this heavy traffic of heavy goods vehicles in a construction site. since an alternative exists (NB: the behavior of truckers is not at stake). Regularly, flat beds of 53 feet REVERSE 400 meters (!), without any supervision, sometimes in the middle of the night. Since September, we have had to follow up with the mayor and the City in the absence of news. We are invited to come and present the petition at a meeting of the municipal council in… January! This will be the sixth month of inaction for the safety of neighborhood children.

We can also blame the police forces: because only one member of your brotherhood, only one, died while carrying out radar in an airplane, you have banned surveillance from the air from your practices and you let a lot of people ride excessive speeds on highways (and other roads).

I also have a problem with those too many motorists who shout loudly, very, very, very loudly, as soon as we think of removing a small meter from them for a widened sidewalk, a cycle path, etc. Do you remember the death of Clément Ouimet on Mount Royal? Well, we’re waiting for another death to happen because Mount Royal Park still serves as a shortcut for vehicles. Pedestrians and cyclists still take up too much space in the eyes of drivers. The reality, a study by Polytechnique Montréal demonstrated in 2020: “Montréal estimates that 78% of the space in these traffic lanes is intended for the car, compared to 20% for pedestrians, 1.5% for cycling infrastructure and 0 .5% to public transport. »

Come on politicians, keep talking! We’ll talk again in a few days, at the next death.

Yvan Martineau, Bromont

Strongly speed bumps

The best way to slow motorists is to install speed bumps on residential streets and secure boulevard intersections with pedestrian timers.

Maria Hood