FATAL FLAW - Apr. 30, 2010
John Gardner/Courier
Jessica Smith and her daughter Zoey narrowly escaped a collision in March at the intersection of Highways 127 and 170. It was less than a month later that Elizabeth Isenor was killed on that corner.
BY JOHN GARDNER
john@stcroixcourier.ca
WAWEIG – It is a Friday night around 9 p.m. and Jessica Smith is driving home from her mom’s house in Chamcook.
Her belly, already swollen in the later stages of pregnancy, is that much fuller from her mom’s home cooking.
In the back seat, daughter Zoey is dozing, as toddlers will do after a visit with Grammy.
Travelling north on Highway 127, Smith slows down as she prepares to make the left turn onto Route 170.
She is aware of Zoey.
She is aware of the unborn child she carries.
And she is aware of her surroundings.
She is now only a few kilometres from her house in Oak Bay. She grew up in the house she still lives in. She remembers this section of road, and acting on memory, she slows for the rumble strips that are no longer there, strips removed during recent reconfigurations tied to Highway 1 construction.
She sees the SUV coming from St. Stephen … and she can see it is not stopping.
“I had seen them, and I had pretty much stopped because I was already into my turn. I just assumed they were going to stop, but they didn’t.”
The vehicle pulled directly out in front of Smith.
“I would have hit them right on the side. I didn’t have to slam on the brakes because I was pretty much already stopped, but I would have hit them if I had not hit my brakes.”
After narrowly avoiding a collision, the two cars came to a stop within a few inches of each other.
The two drivers pulled their vehicles to the side of the road.
The driver of the vehicle that had just crossed onto Route 170, then emerged from his vehicle yelling at Smith.
The commotion, and her mother’s sudden stop, startled Zoey.
“Buddy came over and started yelling at me, and that was when Zoey really freaked out because she saw that I was crying and really upset.”
The argument escalated as the other driver put the blame on Smith.
“What are you talking about? You went through the stop sign!” retorted Smith.
The driver looked at the missed sign, turned around, got back in his vehicle and drove away without another word.
A few days later, Smith was still asserting that someone was going to die on that corner.
On April 19, that prediction came true when a vehicle that initial reports suggest missed a stop sign, struck a transport truck, and killed passenger Elizabeth Isenor.
Smith is not the only one who has expressed concern since the reconfiguration of the corner in late 2008.
For the rest of the story, see the Courier Weekend for April 30.
Advertisements
