Letters - Neepawa area children at risk

Details

Published on Thursday, June 1, 2017

Submitted
The Neepawa Banner

This is a serious matter that the writer believes concerns all parents of children in Neepawa and area. On May 10th at 3:35 p.m. (just after school was let out) at the intersection of Hospital St. and Mountain Ave. there was a near miss with an elementary student riding a bicycle and a school bus.

The following is what transpired. Please try to visualize this. The school bus was facing west at the stop sign on Hospital St. waiting for traffic/pedestrians to clear, at which time, an elementary student walking his bike heading north was waiting to cross. The  bus driver waves this child across and the child proceeds from the sidewalk (no marked crosswalk). At the same time, a second child riding his bike on the sidewalk follows behind. Both children clear the intersection on the north side. The bus driver checks both ways,  sees it’s clear to proceed, and starts forward, when out of the blue, a third child riding his bike on the sidewalk, not even looking, bolts into the intersection and in front of the bus, trying to “catch up” to his two friends! Driver slams on brakes, narrowly avoiding tragedy. He also leaned on the horn and the child stopped his bike about 10 meters past the intersection to look back to see what all the fuss was about.
The very next day, the same three children were observed riding their bikes on the sidewalk and crossed the same intersection as the day before, only this time all three were riding.
The highway traffic act states as follows:
145(8) Bicycles n sidewalks-
Subject to subsection (9), no person shall operate on a sidewalk a bicycle with a rear wheel the diameter of which exceeds 410 mm (16 inches).
145 (9) Subsection (8) does not apply to a sidewalk that is marked by a traffic control device permitting the operation of a bicycle on a sidewalk.
Now here lies the dilemma. I talked with a parent about this issue and he informed me that he actually taught his children to ride their bikes on the sidewalk and instructed them to stay off of the road. The reason being, that he was more concerned about their safety when riding  behind cars that are parked on an angle and may back out without seeing the cyclist. This makes perfect sense to me but it does not solve the problem.
I think the root of the problem is that we are giving mixed messages to our children and are setting them up for disaster. 
I believe that the powers that be have a moral and legal responsibility with practice of due diligence, to do everything they can to correct his issue. 
The writer has done his part in pointing out this issue, now, the solution rests with those who are in a position to do the decision making and educating the children in town. Let’s hope they “get it” before tragedy strikes.

B. Mummery
Neepawa