Crossing guard fed up with bad drivers

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This article was published 23/06/2015 (4081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg crossing guard is hoping to shame bad drivers into better behaviour.

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

She has been 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 during an interview 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 license 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, already had over 10 members join after one day. 50-year-old woman said she will be the only person posting license plate numbers in the group, so she can ensure they are authentic.

One interested member, Maurice Grégoire, said he wants to help Desjarlais by giving her a wearable hat-camera that will shoot video and audio. Then, she won’t have to take her eyes off the children to write down license plate numbers, he told her.

Grégoire already manufactures similar cameras for school buses.

The Desjarlais hopes to raise awareness among drivers and make the commutes to and from school for her great-nieces and nephews safer.

“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.”