A North Vancouver mom is asking the District of North Vancouver to make a crosswalk near her children’s school safer after her kids narrowly escaped being hit by a truck there recently
It’s the same crosswalk on Braemar Road where another seven-year-old girl was hit by a driver in June 2015, sending her to hospital with head injuries.
Now Laura Wait says safety improvements are needed, before another child is hurt.
Wait’s own two children, seven-year-old Jasper and five-year-old Serena, were walking to Carisbrooke elementary with their nanny last week, when they had a frightening close call.
Wait said a car had stopped at the crosswalk to let the group cross and her kids were preparing to step into the road when the driver of a truck sped up behind the stopped car. To avoid rear-ending the car, the driver of the truck “veered off the road, jumped the curb, over the sidewalk, through some bushes and hit a handrail (of a nearby path),” said Wait, who called North Vancouver RCMP to report the near miss.
North Vancouver RCMP spokesman Richard De Jong said the incident is still under investigation.
Her kids, who were just feet away from where the vehicle came to rest, were unharmed but shaken by the close call, said Wait.
A year and a half ago, another young student at the school wasn’t so lucky. She was rushed to children’s hospital after being struck in the same location and suffering serious injuries. Fortunately, said Wait, the girl has made a full recovery.
Following that incident “a number of parents emailed the district,” said Wait.
“Of course, nothing happened,” she said.
Now parents are renewing their call for safety improvements. “It’s not marked well enough in an area where cars go very quickly and where there’s lots of obstruction,” said Wait. “I want that crosswalk to be made safe.”
Carisbrooke principal Lisa Upton said the crosswalk on Braemar is one of several problem areas for traffic safety identified by parents. Upton and members of the school’s parent advisory council met with municipal staff on Thursday afternoon to talk about possible options.
In the wake of last week’s close call, both RCMP and the District of North Vancouver have been very responsive, said Upton, with an increased police presence in the area and immediate installation of solar-powered speed watch signs.
Parents are now hoping for more permanent solutions.
Stephanie Smiley, spokeswoman for the district, said the municipality is aware of those concerns. “It is a priority area for us,” she said.
Crews have been out cutting back grass and brush and installing plastic traffic delineators, she said. Now “our transportation folks are going to have a second look at that area,” she said, to see what more can be done.
“Speeding is a concern on that road,” she said, but added traffic calming measures like speed bumps can’t be placed on a road designated as an arterial street. Other measures like better signs or flashing lights on the crosswalk might be options, she added.
“We don’t want to wait for another accident to happen,” said Upton. “It’s definitely on our radar.”
