Cyclist hit at same intersection where Saanich teen killed

A second serious collision at the same location where a teen was killed in December has Saanich, B.C. residents stepping up calls to improve safety at problem intersections.

This week, a cyclist suffered a broken leg after being hit by a trailer a driver was towing with his pickup truck. Paul O’Callaghan was riding home from work at around 3 p.m. when the driver hit him with his trailer, reports Saanich News.

“Before it happened I became aware of a white pickup truck really, really close to me,” he told Saanich News. “There was a big trailer on the back of their truck and the next thing I know I was hit, bounced off the trailer and was catapulted into the air.”

The accident happened at the same intersection where 16-year-old Kaydence Bourque was fatally struck in December. Bourque was crossing the intersection on foot, just steps from his family home.

The teen’s mother, Crystal Bourque, witnessed the latest crash from her home. She quickly stepped in to comfort O’Callaghan while emergency services arrived. O’Callaghan woke to her leaning over him and stroking his forehead to keep him calm.

“I noticed she was crying as well, I saw she had tears, and I said to her, why are you crying? And then she told me who she was,” O’Callaghan said to Global News. He added his appreciation for her kindness, “I couldn’t believe someone who has such a fresh memory of such a tragic incident is there tending to someone and giving her care and her compassion.”

O’Callaghan suffered a broken ankle, cuts and bruises. It could have been worse.

Lack of action from officials

The death of Kaydence Bourque led to calls for Saanich to speed up its active transportation plan, which includes the kind of road safety upgrades that could prevent similar crashes. That a second serious crash took place at the same location as the very recent fatality has residents frustrated with the lack of action.

“The best time to fix this safety issue was years ago,” Basil Langevin, an organizer with Safer Saanich told Global. “The second best time to fix this issue was the Tuesday morning, the day after Kaydence was hit. That was two months ago. Two months ago a young boy was killed here.”

Langevin says waiting for the municipality to complete a large master plan is no longer an option. Action is needed now to prevent more people from being hurt.

“These are not accidents, these are inevitabilities.”