Montreal City Weblog

Kate 06:52 on 2019-03-28 Permalink Reply  

• Tim S. 08:15 on 2019-03-28 Permalink

  Sad. I note that while there are few details, police say that the SUV was travelling at low speed. My high school physics is a little rusty, but I suspect that a heavier SUV would still have a more damaging impact than a lighter object – say, a car – traveling at the same speed. I wish weight of the vehicle was one of the factors included in assessing traffic fines, not just the speed. Maybe that would cause a few people to think twice about their purchases.

• qatzelok 10:02 on 2019-03-28 Permalink

  Now that the fact that SUVs and pickups kill pedestrians at lower speeds than other cars is out there in the public domaine, what should we think about people who drive them? That they’re dumb, or that they’re callous and have no empathy?

• Kate 10:16 on 2019-03-28 Permalink

  qatzelok, we don’t have to think about their motivations, but we do have to adjust their actions in the public sphere.

• Alex L 10:17 on 2019-03-28 Permalink

  Very sad and frustrating, as these deaths could be avoided. As far as I know, SUVs are more dangerous for children (and people in general) mainly because they won’t roll over the car when hit, which is usually what happens with small cars.

  https://www.aarp.org/auto/driver-safety/info-2018/suv-pedestrian-dangers.html

• Blork 11:59 on 2019-03-28 Permalink

  Alex L, I doubt an 8-year-old is tall enough to roll over a car that hits it. Also, there’s no “roll over” effect when the car is moving slowly.

  According to CBC, this was a classic case of the child running into the street from between two parked cars. The fact that the vehicle was moving slowly and still struck the child indicates it happened in an instant, and the type of vehicle makes no difference in this case.

• qatzelok 12:25 on 2019-03-28 Permalink

  Not-rolling-over isn’t the only thing that makes SUVs and pickups more dangerous for smaller people. The height of their hoodline and squareness of front-end are instant death for small people because of a sharp impact to the forehead. This should be public knowledge, and if it isn’t, then blame commercial media for the “dumbness” and “callousness” of letting these things circulate in high-density urban settings.

• Alex L 14:20 on 2019-03-28 Permalink

  Blork, I may be wrong about the roll over thing, as I’m no expert. But if you Google it you’ll find plenty of information about the greater death rates with collisions involving SUVs.

  That being said, I know there’s a tendency never to blame the driver when such collisions happen (as obviously no one would want to kill a kid), but it is what happened, nevermind if it was at *low speed* and that the kid came out of nowhere. It just shouldn’t happen. If it did and it is proven that the driver respected the law, then the law has to be changed. Vision Zero, anyone?

  If all of us who drive were kept responsible for collisions and deaths, then maybe people would drive thinking that someone could cross the street at any moment (aka drive safely) instead of always driving to the speed limit.

• Uatu 16:57 on 2019-03-28 Permalink

  Well better get used to this because pickups and SUVs are the most popular choice for Quebecers…
  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/suvs-pickups-sales-up-quebec-1.4948827

• Ian Rogers 09:58 on 2019-03-29 Permalink

  That kid was the younger brother of one of my daughter’s classmates. Sad news. FWIW though all the media outlets are reporting the boy as 8, he was only 7.

  I’m finding it rather callous – though unsurprising – to see so many folks taking this as an opportunity to flex their greener-than-thou bona fides. I think I need to take a break from reading this blog for a while.

• Kate 11:01 on 2019-03-29 Permalink

  I am sorry you feel that way, Ian. Your participation here adds so much.

• Chris 12:05 on 2019-03-29 Permalink

  I’ve seen it reported as “low speed” several times, but never seen a numeric estimate. Is 50 km/h “low speed” for example?

• Blork 12:52 on 2019-03-29 Permalink

  I doubt it. That would be “normal speed.” I suspect it isn’t really “low speed” until it’s under 30, but we’re at the mercy of some reporter’s vocabulary, or maybe the police report.

• Alex L 20:14 on 2019-03-29 Permalink

  I am sorry to hear that Ian, my goal wasn’t to offend anyone. I didn’t know the kid or his family, but I live a few streets from there and the subject of safety for kids walking on the street was on all my neighbours’ lips these last hours. And everyone had, fresh in its mind, a similar collision that happened less than two years ago, not far from there.