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Belleville crossing guard killed in accident
Posted 1 year ago
Sat, Apr 14th, '12 - 8:30 am
The investigation is continuing and Belleville Police still need some more information after a crossing guard was struck by a car and killed yesterday afternoon.
Emergency crews were called at about 12:25 yesterday when the crossing guard at Sidney St. and Leland Dr. was hit by a car.
Police have identified the victim as 71-year-old Norman Cole of Belleville, and say he’s a city employee, but no information has been released about the driver of the car.
The BPS Traffic Management Unit did a reconstruction of the crash and are also helping the Ministry of Labour to investigate.
Very unfortunate. Such a tragic waste.
There is absolutely NO reason a vehicle should be within a crosswalk while a pedestrian is there. Distraction is not an excuse or reason. There is a speed limit, a cross-walk, crossing signs and a crossing guard. Throw the book at this driver. Loss of license etc. Unfortunately it’s very common in this area for drivers to ignore pedestrians while in the crossing or intersection. Our heart goes out to the family of the deceased.
Terrible news. I’m not sure what happened in this case, but I’m a walker and jogger and have come close to being hit a few times at traffic lights when it says “walk”. It’s as if motorists are surprised to actually encounter a pedestrian.
It was only a mere week ago that I almost saw another crossing guard get hit by a vehicle on Cannifton Road near the Slapshot bar. In an area with several lanes of traffic the crossing guard was barely visible while standing to the one side of the roadway. The remaining lanes of traffic to her other side could not see her!!!!! The only way we knew there was a crossing guard was the fact that traffic had stopped and within a second or two she appeared returning back to the curb. This is sooooooooooooo dangerous for this crossing guard. There is no light, sign or anything to indicate that there is a cross walk and guard there. Traffic whips along, frequent lane changes, very busy spot with the new bridge and yet we expect this person to step out into a 4 lane street to stop traffic when the other 1 or 2 lanes can’t even see them…. just insane.
My condolences to the Cole family and if there can be any good come of this, please let it be better protection for crossing guards in Belleville.
I think this is the friendly fellow who is always waving and greeting passers-by. This is the Southern-most guarded crossing on Sidney Street
This should not have happened! So tragic…..and senseless ……to think this could have been prevented if people simply respected the rules! Rest In Peace Norm..you wil be sadly missed!
It is unreal how fast people drive on Sidney. It needs to be patrolled better. A 3-way stop is a great idea for the intersection of Sidney and Leland. There also needs to be a crosswalk installed near Giant Tiger/Shoppers Drug Mart, I am suprised no one has been injured there, it seems to be to far for people to walk to the lights to cross the road!
If they are giving the driver’s name then he must be someone of importance in this city or else we would have the details and the name.
Obviously Crossing Guards are working a dangerous job. Pay them as much as cops and unionize them. That way they will have some security,
Just a pet peeve of mine. I was in a fatal accident, and my name was immediately released as the person driving the other vehicle. My family tried calling and getting them not to release my name but they would not. Why in some cases is the name released and other times it is not? Just curious.
I cross on sidney all the time on Benjamin and there are many times my children and I have almost been hit there have been a few accidents as well at the cross walk it’s really scarey. the cops do not watch sidney at all … yeoman is awful too near the school it is a 40 zone but everyone seems to think it’ s60 I know there are no crossing gaurds or anything there but it is near a school … I think it’s time for Belleville police to step it up some .
“Obviously Crossing Guards are working a dangerous job. Pay them as much as cops and unionize them. That way they will have some security,”
This is serious topic, why do you feel the need to try and make us all laugh?
My condolences to Mr.Coles family.I am a retired opp and do not agree with holding information, like the drivers name and the reasons this terrible accident happened.The driver if at fault has no claim to privacy. He still has his life.I would have handled the investigation differently.
It was either a medical emergency for the driver, or a drunk driver. It is my understanding that Norman was hit while standing on the grass (not at the crosswalk), then the car drove 1/2 a block down the sidewalk, shearing the bark off a tree and then hitting a fire hydrant…There was no driver in or near the car within minutes of the accident (drunk and left the scene, or got over medical emergency to check on Mr Cole?!?!). Hopefully it all comes out soon, what a tragedy.
Ya know what, quit trying to blame others especially our police officers for stupidity of others, ya we all do it SPEED and we all do forget that cars are WEAPONS and on top of that we have all lost what would save most lives RESPECT for OTHERS. Let’s all learn and teach others of how SPEED and NO RESPECT for others can KILL.
We ALL need to work at practicing and living our towns phrase out of RESPECT for Mr.Cole, his family and for the children he guided and cared for. Belleville WE all need to learn by this tragedy. Please, make this THE FRIENDLY CITY in memory of Mr.Cole and just start by showing RESPECT on our ROADS how we DRIVE. The POLICE in our CITY are to PROTECT us NOT teach us how to drive and BELLEVILLE SHOW our BELLEVILLE POLICE OFFICERS RESPECT and just TREAT everyone in this beautiful town as YOU WISH TO BE TREATED.
RIP Mr. Cole
I will think of you every time I get in my car and I will teach others that a Car is a weapon and speed kills