Longwoods Road residents call for changes after 7-year-old killed getting off school bus

An online petition calling for road safety improvements in London has garnered hundreds of signatures, days after a seven-year-old boy was fatally struck by a vehicle west of Lambeth as he got off his school bus.

Dante Caranci, 7, was struck and killed on Monday afternoon. The Lambeth Lancers Minor Hockey association, which Dante played for, has asked people to put hockey sticks outside their front doors to show support for the boy's family. 

The tragedy has galvanized area residents, who say they want more done about Longwoods Road and other nearby roads they believe are dangerous because of inattentive, speeding drivers.

"Every day, a significant proportion of commuters pass through our neighbourhoods at speeds which far exceed the posted limits," reads the petition, addressed to London's police chief and local politicians.

"These motorists also regularly ignore the lights and signage of school buses, speeding up to pass through stop signs which have clearly been extended."

The petition was launched on Wednesday by Charles Bakker and his wife Rachel. The couple live on Longwoods, near where the road's 80 km/h speed limit drops to 50 km/h as eastbound drivers enter Lambeth.

Bakker said he regularly sees drivers racing past despite the 50 km/h limit. Drivers leaving Lambeth will speed up, anticipating the change, while eastbound drivers may try to beat the lights at Colonel Talbot Road, or not realize the limit has dropped.

"It's actually noteworthy when I see someone come (east) at 50 km/h or 60 km/h. You can tell because there'll be a huge train of cars behind them," he said.

Volume has increased on Longwoods with construction on nearby Colonel Talbot Road, he said. Increased development has also played a role. Over the summer, city council voted to add a traffic signal at Longwoods and Westdel Bourne as a result.

The Bakker home is two kilometres east from where Caranci was struck around 4 p.m. on Monday at Longwoods and Murray Road. 

Caranci was getting off his school bus when he was struck, according to a family friend. He was rushed to Victoria Hospital but died of his injuries on Tuesday.

All involved stayed at the scene after the collision, police said. It's not clear if charges will be laid.

What caused the collision has also not been made public, including if the rainy, foggy weather London was seeing at the time played a role.

An obituary describes Caranci, a student of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, as a "joyful, radiant child that brought joy to everyone around him," who loved playing for the Lambeth Lancers.

On Thursday, the hockey association posted a message of remembrance, and changed their Facebook avatar to Caranci's number — 90.

A visitation for Caranci will take place Friday, with a mass and interment on Saturday.

"The family requests that visitors attending the funeral home for visitation and the mass please wear their hockey jerseys for Dante," the obituary reads.

One of the biggest issues is drivers not paying attention to school buses, Bakker said. At least four vehicles nearly went through the stop sign of his children's bus between Dec. 11 and 18.

"I wear a reflective vest, and I won't let my children cross until vehicles have come to an absolute stop," he said.

"Unless we take extra measures, we have no trust in these drivers whatsoever. It seems like everybody's just trying to get through Lambeth to get where they're going as quickly as they can."

Roughly 12 hours after speaking with CBC News, Bakker's neighbour experienced a close call involving her own children.

Amanda Brown said her two kids were waiting to cross Longwoods to board their eastbound bus on Thursday when an SUV came zipping down the road in the opposite direction.

"I threw my hands up in the air, 'What are you doing? Stop!'" Brown said. The driver did stop, but only after they had already passed the bus. 

Since Monday's collision, Brown said she has been more cautious, and while she's talked with her kids about keeping back from the road, had she not seen the SUV, it's likely her kids would have been crossing as it came speeding down the road.

"This happens weekly, if not daily," she said. "Some neighbours put out 'slow down' signs on our yards, but other than that, nothing's been done."

Bakker's petition calls for speed traps, rumble strips and additional signage, such as radar speed signs. It also seeks traffic studies focused on neighbourhood safety, and mandated red light cameras on school buses.

CBC News contacted London police for comment, but no one was available Thursday.

Ward 9 Coun. Anna Hopkins said she was heartbroken by Monday's collision, and said speeding and inattentive drivers have been a citywide issue.

There are processes to request safety improvements, she said. "We can also do surveys to look at the speed limit and look at traffic-calming measures as another way (to) deal with speeding."

"I think it's important residents reach out to their counsellor, and we pass that information onto staff as well as police so they can identify these areas and take a look at making them safe."

Earlier this month, CBC News reported similar concerns from a downtown-area resident. In July, a northwest London resident voiced frustration about the process in requesting traffic-calming measures.