On December 3, 2022 in Laval, Quebec, Canada, an elderly lady aged 85 was leaving a store with a couple of grocery bags. She was on foot and was going to take the bus to go home. As she had done many times before, she came to a T intersection where there was a stop sign. The bus shelter was just across the street.
A red Honda Fit came to the stop too. The driver looked to the right, eyes fixated on another vehicle driving on the perpendicular road and as soon as it passed, sped up without looking left where my mother had started crossing. The driver not only neglected to check properly that the road was clear before driving on, but upon hitting my mother was also unable to react in time to stop the vehicle and drove upon her with both front and back wheels. Whether the driver wasn’t paying attention, had terrible reflexes or had not properly cleaned the fog from the windshield and windows, ultimately these are all tasks a driver is duty bound to fulfill. Furthermore, the driver and a passenger did not even try to help my mother but went back into their car while my mother’s body was lying on the road and other vehicles were passing next to her. Another one may have even struck her then. Eventually, a van stopped, someone came out, checked on my mother and then parked in front of her redirecting the traffic until the police arrived.
The accident was captured on camera by a nearby business.
 
Police officers told me that it’s “not criminal”, that my mother was “wearing dark clothes”, that it “was dark”, and “rainy”. One even provided excuses such as “no one really makes a full stop at a stop sign”, “there is a dead angle in the frame that can prevent seeing when turning”, my “mother was old but a younger person might have not died”.
However, I believe that the driver failed in taking several necessary fundamental steps that all drivers must take when being on the roads: 1) when coming to a stop sign, properly check that the road is clear and let pedestrians cross first 2) be attentive and brake in time in case of emergency 3) provide assistance to a person in distress, especially when the one who caused that distress is also the driver.
Failing to do those is indicative of dangerous driving defined in article 327 of the highway safety code and article 320.13 of the criminal code. Leaving the person on the road after running her over while other vehicles could drive over her was a saddening lack of consideration, sheer humanity, and tantamount to criminal negligence.
 
Please sign this petition to demand that accountability be established.
My mother was an elderly lady who was still very young at heart, full of life, had a strong will to live and rejoiced in spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchild. Before she was killed she was looking forward to her grandson visiting with his young family as well as traveling back with him for the holidays. I was also planning to visit her soon.
If we allow an old lady to be killed while simply crossing at a stop sign, think of the message it sends to society in general. Please join me in demanding justice and do share with relatives, friends and acquaintances, as well.
Thank you.