By Ethan Ready

Intersection safety concern

Family calling for pedestrian controlled crosswalk after 18-year-old struck and hospitalized

Jun 2, 2020 | 2:44 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It was an unwelcomed call that Stephanie Lode received Sunday evening.

Shortly after 5:00 p.m. (June 1), she arrived at the scene of 1st Avenue and Ospika Boulevard in Prince George where her 18-year-old son was struck by a mid-sized vehicle while attempting to cross the street at the marked pedestrian crossing with his girlfriend.

“You come to a crash site and it’s your child. Nobody wants to do that. They’ve got to do something here,” said Stephanie.

His girlfriend was able to step back up onto the triangular meridian, however, Sean wasn’t so lucky as the impact launched him up into the air before landing several feet away and suffering major head trauma.

Sean has been in the Intensive Care Unit since where he remains intubated.

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RCMP do not believe that alcohol or drugs were a factor. The car of the 22-year-old female who struck Sean was seized, and evidence from the scene collected. Police say that all indications are that the pedestrian was in a marked crosswalk when the southbound vehicle collided with him.

Since the incident, his sister Mavra has launched an online petition calling on the City to do something with the crosswalk. The petition has already received over 1,500 signatures.

According to the family, there are multiple concerns with the visibility of pedestrians caused by a white fence and vehicles parked along Ospika Boulevard at the Park Village Apartments. The turning lane onto 1st Avenue also causes visibility issues for pedestrians.

“This is for everyone’s safety,” she said. “How many people need to get hurt? How many people need to worry about crossing the road when it’s clearly very busy? It’s so hard to get across.”

The incident has left the entire family angered, but more so concerned towards similar incidents happening if nothing is done.

The family has lived in the area of the intersection for quite some time and admit that the set up of the intersection plays into the number of near-collisions with pedestrians through that crosswalk.

“I’m constantly having to play chicken about when it is safe to go in a vehicle, let alone being on foot,” said Sean’s brother, Paul. “I just think something needs to be done because there is a school around here.”

Mayor Lyn Hall says the City is actively looking at the possibility of installing some sort of controlled crosswalk for pedestrians at that particular intersection, admitting that City does need to do something to address the concern.

“There’s no question about it and I understand the angst that this family is having. I have not yet talked to the family but I want to and will. I think you see a number of intersections throughout our city that we’ve been working away at in order to upgrade and we know that we have some work ahead of us.”

Hall says he currently has staff looking into how the City might be able to fit work into the Capital Plan, and whether there’s some way for the City to address this issue sooner rather than later.

Sean’s sister-in-law, Cass Wallin says it’s a prevalent issue in Prince George when it comes to the safety of pedestrians.

“People around here like to drive 10 to 15 kilometres over the limit, and sometimes that’s all it takes to lose that extra second to save someone from being seriously hurt.”

According to ICBC, between 2014 and 2018, there were 11 crashes at that intersection. One of those involved a pedestrian. However, on Monday (the day after Sean’s incident), a Canada Post mail carrier was nearly struck at the very same intersection according to the Lode family.

The investigation into the incident involving Sean is ongoing and charges may be considered upon its conclusion.

You can find the petition here.