Bad driving, not non-functional lights, behind accident:Dollard

Dollard des Ormeaux Mayor Ed Janiszewski minimized the importance of non-functional traffic lights on the corner of Belcourt and Sources Boulevard as a factor in a five-vehicle accident that originally sent 23 people to the hospital last Tuesday, adding the lights are likely unconnected yet because of the city's chosen contractor for the work and Hydro Quebec.

"We have to wait for Hydro to come, it's not something that we can control," Janiszewski said during a telephone interview today.

Last Tuesday at about 4:40 p.m., three cars and two public school buses rammed into each other after witnesses said the first of five vehicles stopped at the traffic lights, perhaps thinking they were functional.

"And the second guy was tail-gating," Janiszewski opined, adding the fact that the cars were speeding is likely the major factor behind the accident.

"If people drive 50-55 kilometres per hour and they don't tailgate, and traffic's going 55 and you slow down at intersections, you're going to be safe," he added.

About 23 people involved in the accident, mostly high school students from École Secondaire Dorval Jean XXIII, were taken to the hospital, but nobody was seriously injured, according to authorities.

"The driver of the (second) school bus was the most injured person due to cuts to the face after the windshield in front of him broke," said police media relations officer Yannick Ouimet at the time.

Passersby watching the aftermath of the accident were unimpressed with the non-functional traffic lights, which were installed a few weeks ago but have not been lit up yet.

"They should turn them on or take them away," said Megan Sofia, a local resident surveying the damages.

Though the city has installed a small sign on each side of Sources Boulevard warning the lights will not be functional until June 9, Sofia said they are just too small for passing motorists to make out.

"Look at that tiny sign. Who can see it?" She said, pointing at one of them.

Police were reluctant at first to imply the traffic lights were a cause in the accident at all, or even that there were more than two high school buses involved.

"We don't know what the cause is yet," Ouimet had said last Tuesday, adding one of the bus drivers who crashed into the other may have been momentarily distracted.

At a press conference a day later, however, Station 4 commander Pierre Gauvin conceded the lights may have had a role. "We can't certify that it's because of the traffic lights but it looks like the accident may have been linked to that," Gauvin said.

Residents have complained for years about a missing traffic light at the intersection in question. Dollard approved a contract for their installation last November. Back then, Janiszewski had told The Chronicle the lights should be up within six to seven weeks.

However, he said today the installation was delayed due to a back order on some equipment.

"This is a problem with municipal-type contracts. They're complicated. We have no control over the supply of stuff and we have no control over Hydro doing it quicker," he said.

Meanwhile, all high school students who were taken to hospital are now safe and sound, according to Marguerite Bourgeoys school board spokesperson Brigitte Gauvreau.

"And about half of them were back in school (on Thursday)," she said.

Naissa Watche, a Roxboro resident who was one of those taken to St. Justine Hospital, said she saw all students had returned to school that day except one classmate who stayed at home. "I only had a minor bump on the head," she said.

The contractor for the traffic lights, Pierre Brossard Ltée, did not return phone calls for comment for this story as of press time.

Hydro Quebec maintained its own staff was on deadline as per its agreement with the contractor.

"We were sent a request for connection by the contraction on May 19," said spokesperson Jean-Philippe Rousseau, adding the latter was entered into Hydro Quebec's computer systems on May 21.

He said the lights should be up and running by the end of this week.