Adam Degoede said that speed has been a longstanding problem in front of his home on John Street South – even before a school bus crashed and knocked over the tree in front of his home.
“The city says talk to the police and the police say talk to the city,” Degoede said on the porch of his home, watching as crews towed the wrecked bus away and swept up the debris.
“I have a toddler, they have a toddler,” Degoede said, pointing to another home on his street. “They have three toddlers two doors down … this whole neighborhood poses a big problem. It’s a residential area.”
The crash occurred on Thursday morning. Stratford police initially reported that a dozen students were on board the bus, though since learned that only 11 were on board after gathering everyone's information.
All students were checked and cleared by paramedics and released from the scene. One child was transported to hospital with neck pain.
The driver was transported to hospital with minor injuries.
Const. Darren Fischer said police are still investigating the cause of the crash. Although police can't say for certain how fast the vehicle was going, the vehicle was most likely going the speed limit or above the speed limit, given the extent of the damage.
The posted speed limit on that street is 40km/h.
More information on the investigation will be published, as it becomes available.
After getting in contact with the City of Stratford just last month, Degoede said he was informed that there was not enough speeding data on the street to put in a crosswalk. After the street was repaved recently, he was told that newly-painted lines are meant to be a traffic-calming measure.
Neighbour Tanya Ritz, a mom to a three-year-old daughter, agreed with Degoede about the issue of speed on the street – especially during the school rush in the morning and the afternoon.
“It’s scary,” she said. “It’s always busy around then – and probably 3:30 until about 5:30 it’s ridiculous.”
She had one thing to say for drivers coming through:
“Slow down!”
