Teenager hit by SUV dies
A 15-year-old who was hit by an SUV in Anjou on Wednesday last week has died in hospital.
CTV reports that the SPVM lists ten pedestrian deaths on Montreal streets so far this year. There must be some that are not reported in the media, because I’ve only seen reports of five, which I’ve put on my incidents map.
And before someone points out again that it’s misleading to write that a vehicle hit someone, I will say again that we all know what it means.
dhomas 11:01 on 2024-09-03 Permalink
I think the placement on the fatalities map is just slightly off. As far as I can tell, the crosswalk in question is here, northbound on Boul LHL, south of the met:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/pqmTNDXCinP229ke8
The pedestrian was crossing at a crosswalk and was still hit.
I live in the area and use that road often enough. You’ll notice that the road at the level of the crosswalk is two lanes wide. About 100m further, it constricts to one lane. It should be a single lane already where the crosswalk is. It has happened to me at least twice where I stop at the crosswalk to let a pedestrian through and an impatient driver behind me goes into the other lane to pass me.
Even better than single the lane would be to put a traffic light there. It would definitely not be popular with motorists on what’s essentially a highway service road, but it’s apparent some drivers can’t be trusted to not run over pedestrians, so…
Kate 13:07 on 2024-09-03 Permalink
Thanks for the correction, dhomas. It’s such a big interchange that I was just guessing.
Horrible for the kid’s family.
Meezly 18:11 on 2024-09-03 Permalink
Why are the drivers here so shitty about stopping at crosswalks?
azrhey 12:53 on 2024-09-04 Permalink
@Meezly : because they can ? I am not sure what the penalty for not stopping at a crosswalk is in Quebec, but in Portugal it’s 400 EUR if a driver does not stop at a crosswalk that has a pedestrian waiting to cross, up to 600 EUR if there is someone already ON it. If you actually hit a pedestrian on a crosswalk you loose your permit for at least a year, more if other circumstances ( speed, etc. ) . Also cars must reduce speed at the approach of a crosswalk, even if there are no pedestrians nearby that could want to cross. This is one is less enforced because a desert street at 3 am and all… But my cousin got a 600 EUR ticket last winter because he “didn’t see” the pedestrian waiting to cross and got his ticket my mail couple days after because cameras gonna take pictures.
Anyhow, I am sure that drivers in Montreal, Quebec, would be careful to stop at crosswalks if there was a chance they’d get a nice ticket to of nearly 900$ in the mail couple days after. Get them where it hurts?
( also just learned searching for accurate numbers here, that if there are not crosswalks within 50m, a pedestrian can cross any street, ( not highway, duh ) anywhere perpendicular to the flow of traffic. IF a pedestrian crosses a street outside of a crosswalk that exists less than 50m away then it’s 50 EUR for Jay walking .. not sure that would be feasable in Montreal with our very long blocks…. )
CE 13:39 on 2024-09-04 Permalink
When I did my drivers training, the instructor told me I should take my foot off the gas pedal and hover my foot over the break pedal when coming up to a crosswalk. It’s a habit I’ve never lost and has allowed me to avoid what would otherwise have been close calls with pedestrians.
Uatu 15:06 on 2024-09-04 Permalink
Yet another fatality caused by a SUV. Such anti biker/pedestrian design that you’d think that they would be outlawed just by their collision stats. You have to walk with a giant orange bike flag strapped to your back apparently these days
dhomas 20:11 on 2024-09-04 Permalink
I don’t think the SUV is (completely) the problem. The driver behind the wheel is. Unfortunately, driving a large SUV gives some drivers the (over)confidence to drive in a more reckless way. I myself drive a very large SUV, a Kia EV9. It’s quite large if you look at it. However, it has almost the exact same measurements as a Chrysler Grand Caravan (my previous vehicle, which was stolen). Yet I don’t see anyone complaining about minivans.
For me, a larger vehicle is a necessity to drive my family of 5 plus my mother-in-law. I actually would have gotten another minivan except they don’t make any EV models, and I have committed to never getting another ICE vehicle.
Ian 06:48 on 2024-09-05 Permalink
Realistically the biggest problem with SUVs is simply that they dominate the market. Car manufacturers have it in their heads this is what people want and keep making these huge things for what used to be the sedan market. Now a sedan is basically a luxury car. Fortunately teh auto industry is so rattled by cheap Chinese EVs they are going to pivot – like the compact, fuel-efficient car wave of the 70s in repsonse to Japanese designs.
One thing about crosswalks – in many cities crosswalks are not only marked but there is a light that he pedestrian activates when they want to cross, and you signal your intention by holding out your arm.
Ideally public transit would be sufficient to legislate the entire island car-free but that’s not happening any time soon. In the meantime, traffic slowing measures and consistent fines will help. Traffic flow studies for improved pedestrian and bicycling safety on mixed-use streets would be nice but we all know that PM thinks studies are a waste of time. After all, who needs engineers to develop consistent, neighbourhood-specific, city-wide solutions when you have virtue on your side?