'I was almost hit': Students and parents walk to Quebec National Assembly demanding pedestrian safety measures

Standing on a stepstool in the National Assembly, nine-year old Maïra-Ketia Ropana and Saleh Mahadi spoke about the need for better pedestrian safety.

"We have to do something because the cars drive too fast on the street in front of school," said Saleh, looking over his shoulder at opposition politicians who were in attendance.

"Sometimes the cars don't even stop for the crossing guard," said Maïra-Ketia.

"I was almost hit once. A man pushed me out of the way before the car hit [me]. We have to change the rules to make it more safe."

The two students spoke to reporters ahead of a meeting with Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault.

They were part of a group of about 20 parents, volunteers and elementary school students who walked about a kilometre from the Maison des Enfants de St-Roch, a youth organization, to the National Assembly. Their goal: to highlight the importance of pedestrian safety in school zones.

This comes four months after seven-year-old Mariia Lehenkovska was struck in a fatal hit-and-run during her morning walk to school in Montreal.

Jean-François Gagné, who has spearheaded the movement for improved school zone safety, spent months working towards this meeting.

He delivered a binder full of resolutions passed in more than 50 municipalities in Quebec asking for the government to increase the budget for road safety and to make the roads more friendly for pedestrians and cyclists.

"It's simple. I want my kids to go to school by walking or by bicycle in security," said Gagné, who is part of the Association pour la mobilité sécuritaire de Montréal-Nord.

"My 10-year-old is asking me to go by himself, but it's too dangerous."

When he started working toward pedestrian safety initiatives in January Gagné said there were only four or five parents involved.

He says the group has grown significantly. They are pushing for more speed bumps, narrower streets and closed streets in school zones.

"We're only parents. We don't have much free time," chuckled Gagné. "To get all these resolutions for us, it's a very big success. So to give it to [Guilbault], it shows it's a very important topic."

Alexis Tremblay, a Grade 6 student, presented Guilbault with a traffic cone. He had painted a drawing of children walking at a crosswalk on it.

He says he walks to school alone and tries to take a pedestrian path to school to avoid the busy road in the St-Roch neighbourhood of Quebec City. This was his first time at the National Assembly.

"I was a little bit stressed," said Alexis. "But I am happy to speak here because it's very important. A lot of cars go very fast."

Alexis told the transport minister that parents are stressed because of the dangers of walking to school. He said some drivers go 50 km/h when driving past the school. Another student mentioned how she almost got hit by a car on her solo walk one day

One of the parents, Anne Julie Rhéaume, applauded the kids' daily bravery.

"[They] walk to school every day despite the dangers. They are part of less than 10 per cent of Quebec children who don't use vehicles to get to school," said Rhéaume.

"In the past few years we have seen children die doing one of the most natural things in the world — walking to school. We have seen others get seriously hurt and these are situations that can be avoided."