Early Wednesday morning, Vito Nardo arrived at the corner of Parc and Bernard avenues to see where his sister, Barbara, 66, spent the last minutes of her life.
She was struck and killed by a truck around 2 p.m. Tuesday as she was crossing the street.
“There are too many accidents for stupidity,” he said.
“I think the police should give more tickets for those who speed, they don’t obey the laws.”
A second woman, aged 63, remains in critical condition in hospital.
READ MORE: 1 woman dead, 1 critically injured after being hit by truck in Mile End
“One woman wasn’t conscious, she wasn’t breathing and was covered in blood,” said Alex March, who owns a store on Parc Avenue.
March and a passerby ran to help and took off their shirts to try and stop the “severe bleeding.”
Joseph Farkas, a volunteer first responder, attended to the other victim on the scene.
“She didn’t have a pulse,” he said.
“We gave one shock, we did our best until mandated services arrived.”
An eyewitness told Global News the women were jaywalking to catch the bus.
Montreal police wouldn’t confirm that, but residents near the intersection said they can see how that could easily be the case.
“The #80 du Parc bus lets me off across the street. I have to cross and be very careful because the cars and trucks come from everywhere,” said one woman waiting at the bus stop.
“There’s a lot of near misses,” warned Farkas.
“People run for the buses all the time. It’s a busy intersection and every year it gets worse and worse.”
March observed that the stretch of street that runs from Bernard to Van Horne avenues doesn’t have a light.
“Obviously it’s a main artery in the city,” said March.
“I wouldn’t want my kids playing near the street. I don’t know if I can expect the city to make speed bumps because traffic has to flow.”
According to data from Montreal Public Health, Parc Avenue is a hot spot for accidents.
“We get tired of talking about it because we know what can be done and it’s not being done,” said City Councillor Marianne Giguère.
She said she would like to see photo radars installed and lanes to be reconfigured to slow traffic down.
“We can definitely work on the design of the street,” she said.
“Narrowing the lanes and having physical things like lights or cameras to reduce speed.”
The police investigation into the accident is ongoing.
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