Charges pending after 3-year-old Edmonton boy struck, killed by truck in marked crosswalk

Police say charges are pending after a boy was killed and his mother and sister were injured in a crash in south Edmonton on Thursday.

According to police, they were walking east across Allard Road SW in a marked crosswalk on the south side of its intersection with Allard Boulevard SW when a truck turning west struck them around 5 p.m.

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The Ford F-150 driver had been heading north when they "briefly" stopped at the three-way stop and continued turning left, running over the boy and hitting the 39-year-old woman and seven-year-old girl, investigators said.

The boy died on scene.

The woman and girl were taken to hospital and released later Thursday.

The 30-year-old man behind the wheel of the truck was not hurt. He remained at the scene.

Police do not believe speed or alcohol were factors.

"They are very nice neighbours, very good (people), very good family," Preeti Goswami, a friend of the victims' family, said.

"It's scary."

Neighbours beg for change

Goswami and other community residents call the intersection problematic after witnessing or experiencing near incidents themselves.

"People are not stopping. They're just going. They don't even let the pedestrian … cross the full crosswalk," Goswami told CTV News Edmonton on Friday.

Or, the community members say, drivers stop for just a brief moment.

"Fair enough, (a driver) might stop, but can't he see the pedestrian?" asked Janmay Pandya, who's kids frequently played with the victims. "Does it give you a right to crush someone if you stop? If you stop, you should see a pedestrian as well, right?"

Dhruv Lodhawala, another neighbour and family friend asked, "What's the point of stopping if you don't look at the pedestrian?"

Pandya added, "Seven seconds is not important compared to the life of a three-year-old boy."

They attributed a rise in negligent driving behaviour to distracted driving, but also speculated it is drivers trying to catch a green light to get onto 41 Avenue.

They want the city to take action, either by installing a speed break or traffic light.

"Please, city, please do something. It's much needed. It has been late, but please do it," Pandya pleaded.

Rupesh Patel, the city's acting director of safe mobility, said in a statement the city will "will be collaborating with Edmonton Police Service and internal stakeholders to conduct an in-depth review," adding that it "has not received any major traffic safety concerns on this specific intersection in the recent years."

Patel said Allard residents, over the past year, have given feedback to the city while participating in a Vision Zero Street Lab to help "develop a traffic safety plan for the neighbourhood."

"The efforts of the community have resulted in adaptable traffic calming measures being recently installed throughout this neighbourhood," Patel said in the statement.

"In the coming months, we will be gathering feedback from residents on the newly installed measures and combining that with our fatality review, which could inform additional adjustments being made."

Community mourns

Those who spoke to CTV News Edmonton said the entire neighbourhood is shaken.

Many families attend Allard Daycare, which the victims were walking home from when they were hit.

Friday morning drop-off was extremely emotional as news spread, Pandya said.

"The kids, teachers are crying… Our kids are asking… where is the boy?" he told CTV News Edmonton.

"Now, I can't face my son. That's why I was out at five in the morning. Because I don't know how to answer him."

Edmonton Police Service says there have been 15 fatal collisions so far this year, with seven involving a pedestrian.

A GoFundMe fundraising effort to support the family has been set up.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Evan Kenny, Evan Klippenstein and Nav Sangha