Friends and family members of a 12-year old girl who died after a collision with a bus Wednesday on Montreal's South Shore revisited the site of the tragic crash Thursday, doing what they could to console the victim's devastated mother.
The girl was killed after a bus in Longueuil struck her just before the start of the school day, at around 7:30 a.m., on the corner of Roland-Therrien Boulevard and du Tremblay Road, near the courthouse.
The girl's relatives said there are no words to describe what happened. Classmates at Jacques Rousseau High School dropped off condolences cards in memory of her.
As the family grieves, there is now a push to better protect pedestrians at the busy intersection with seven lanes of traffic.
"As a society we cannot find this tragic and not act," said Sandrine Cabana-Degani, director of Pietons Québec, an organization that advocates for pedestrian safety.
She said Longueuil residents have called her with concerns about this boulevard in the past.
"It’s almost like an urban highway," she said.
The speed limit is 50 km/h, but Cabana-Degani said it’s the heavy traffic putting people most at risk.
"We would need to work on reducing the number of lanes, reducing the width of lanes, more than changing only the speed limit."
The City of Longueuil wouldn't comment on whether it’s considering making changes to this intersection because the police investigation is going.
Meanwhile, Longueuil police are releasing few details, but said they’re treating the girl’s death as an "accident" and have no plans to charge the bus driver, a woman in her 20s.
The incident has upset many people in the community, Longueuil police said in a written statement, adding that the city is offering support to the victim's family "in order to help them through this extremely difficult time."
