Recently, I walked through Qualicum Beach to complete some errands on foot. In order to do so, I had to cross two different main intersections on Fern Road. Both of these have well-marked pedestrian crosswalks.
In the span of half an hour, I narrowly avoided being hit twice in the centre of each. In both circumstance, an oncoming car failed to see me, thereby breaking the law of stopping to allow a person to safely cross the street. These incidents took place in broad daylight, and there was no issue with me not being visible to traffic.
I am fortunate to be fairly agile, and was able to get out of the way. However, young children, or elderly persons may not have fared the same. These are certainly not the first-time near-misses like this have happened to me while walking in our town.
I am incredibly frustrated by the lack of care in which people drive, especially during the summer months when streets are so much busier with tourists and visitors. To those people who chose to get behind the wheel, and not pay any attention when I was crossing the street on Aug. 6 between noon and 12:30 p.m., you were really lucky.
Lucky that you didn’t hit me, cause serious injuries or even worse. Next time you won’t be so lucky, nor will the person(s) that you have the potential to hurt.
These types of accidents are completely preventable, if you take the extra few seconds to observe your surroundings. Let’s pay attention, drive with care and work together to keep the streets safe for our community. It would be a real shame to have our town known for a pedestrian fatality, instead of its natural beauty and quaint charm.
Kristen Magel
Qualicum Beach