Witnesses of a fatal motorcycle crash on Barlow Trail in Calgary say street lights are needed at the dangerous intersection near the site of the collision.
Caleb Bryce, 23, was killed Tuesday afternoon when the motorcycle he was riding collided with another vehicle.
Ali Chehade, Ghost Ride organizer and fellow rider, said he was heartbroken and devastated to hear the news of Bryce’s death.
“When I found out about it yesterday, I was hurting.”
Police are investigating whether obstructed views might have contributed to the crash, saying in a Wednesday news release that investigators believe a vehicle parked on the northeast corner of the intersection and an advertising board prevented the drivers of the vehicle and motorcycle from seeing each other.
Sgt. Colin Foster with the Calgary Police Service’s reconstruction unit said investigators will be looking into whether the truck was parked illegally, or if the sign was placed illegally, near the intersection.
Foster said excessive speed didn’t appear to be a factor in the crash at this point.
‘We need lights here’
People living and working in the area say the intersection has been the site of countless near-misses and serious collisions in the past.
“Yesterday was a tragedy. It was horrible,” Debbie Kingsbury, the manager of a nearby residential building said Wednesday. “I’d like to do a petition to get a light or some crosswalks on this corner, but we do need something.”
Mark Lawrence, who lives nearby and also witnessed the collision, said there are close calls every day at the intersection.
“I’ve only lived here since the first of June and I’ve witnessed numerous close calls. People have ended up in oncoming traffic,” he said.
“For one, people need to listen to the speed limit, that would help tremendously. And we need lights here. If we don’t have lights, there are going to be problems.”
Foster said after every collision resulting in serious injury or death, police will meet with the city’s roads department to discuss whether any engineering changes should be made to prevent any future crashes. Those meetings happen every three months, Foster said.
“If there is an engineering solution, we speak to our partners at the city to try and find and alleviate those problems so they don’t happen again,” he said, noting that sometimes there are no changes to be made.
Foster said it’s too early in the investigation to say whether traffic lights or traffic-calming measures should be installed at the intersection. He said he couldn’t recall any recent serious crashes at the location in the last four to five years.
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