Crossing guard fed up with reckless drivers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/06/2015 (3750 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg crossing guard hopes to shame bad drivers into better behaviour by posting their licence plate numbers on social media.

Cecile Desjarlais has worked at a busy intersection in the West End since last fall, helping adults and children from a nearby school cross the street.

Desjarlais says she’s blown away by the number of close calls she’s encountered with drivers, seeing kids almost hit by cars.

On Monday, she said she had three narrow misses with vehicles.

“I was in my intersection in the middle of the road with my vest on and my flag out, trying to get some kids across,” Desjarlais said Tuesday. “Out come two vehicles, one after the other, and they passed on the inside of me, thankfully, so I was able to protect the kids.”

Thirty seconds later, another car nearly hit her and pedestrians again, she said.

“There was even a closer call two weeks before where a child was just stepping off the curb… and somebody cut in the outside lane and hit the flag right out of my hand,” Desjarlais said.

“(Drivers) are being inattentive, they’re late possibly for an appointment or work, or they just don’t care.”

Fed up, Desjarlais decided to create a Facebook group where she plans to list the licence plate numbers of reckless drivers she sees. She will also be reporting the numbers to Winnipeg police, she said.

Desjarlais talked to police about the issue and they said it’s all right for her to post the plate numbers online. Police told her they will also be following up on all the numbers she reports.

The Facebook group, Crossing Guards Wall of Shame, had 118 members subscribed after one day. Desjarlais said she will be the only person in the group posting licence plate numbers, so she can ensure they are authentic.

One group member who hopes to help is Maurice Grégoire, the president of Teknisult Enterprises Ltd., which manufactures video cameras for school buses.

Grégoire said he wants to help Desjarlais by giving her a wearable hat-camera that will shoot video and audio. That way, she won’t have to take her eyes off the children to write down licence plate numbers in a notebook, he said.

“It’s all about advocacy for student safety,” he said. “Whatever resources I have that she can use, go for it.”

Desjarlais hopes the Facebook group will raise awareness among drivers and, consequentially, make for safer commutes to school.

“The drivers need to be aware that the crossing guards are out there. We’re not out there just to cause havoc with traffic or anything. We’re just trying to get people across the street safely,” Desjarlais said.

“How would they feel if they were running late or on the way to work and they were to hit me or a child? They’re not going to get to their destination any quicker if that was to happen.”

jessica.botelho-urbanski@freepress.mb.ca