TORONTO – Toronto city council has approved a review of its solid waste operations after a child was struck and killed by a recycling truck on her way home from school last month.
“It sounds like there’s an issue with blind sides of garbage trucks, if they need to get that sorted out they should,” said neighbourhood resident Angela Brown.
Brown, who is a nurse, was one of the first to arrive on scene and covered five-year-old Kayleigh Callaghan-Belanger with a blanket until emergency services arrived.
The truck driver was alone when he made the fateful left turn.
“The issue of right hand drive garbage trucks, this was a right hand drive garbage truck,” said Scarborough city councillor Gary Crawford.
Crawford urged city staff to look at everything from equipment, training and the route trucks take.
He says the solution could be timing and not having them drive through school zones during school hours.
“Other municipalities have done that so I thought it’s time we look at changing the routing a little bit in and around school zones,” Crawford said.
A petition plea still hangs at the building’s entrance where Kayleigh lived with her family.
Crawford also plans to meet with transportation staff to discuss adding more sidewalks to the area.
People in the neighbourhood want whatever it takes to prevent another tragedy.
“It’s unfortunate a tender life was sacrificed for everybody to really recognize that there’s a problem,” said Crawford.
Meanwhile, police have concluded their investigation and have determined speed was not a factor. It’s still unclear if charges will be laid.
Comments