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EDITORIAL: Coming together to face tragedy

When Meesha-Chan Grubisic was killed on Goldstream Avenue on Feb. 13, the event had a ripple effect throughout Langford and the West Shore.

When Meesha-Chan Grubisic was struck by a car and killed on Goldstream Avenue on Feb. 13, the event had a ripple effect throughout Langford and the West Shore.

The Goldstream News Gazette heard about the crash minutes after it happened from a concerned resident calling in. The stories we have written have been read, shared and commented on, through letters and online, by readers who have been touched and shocked by the incident.

A makeshift roadside memorial is evidence of friends, family and neighbours banding together. It’s message, to “Slow down,” a plea from locals to those passing through to help prevent another loss.

More than $20,000 and counting has been gathered in donations from people wanting to help Grubisic’s 11-year-old daughter Ruby as she faces a tough road ahead without her mom.

Surrounding homeowners are also reacting to the situtation, coming together yet again to bring attention to concerns they have over safety on the stretch of road where Grubisic was killed.

Going by what the police say, it seems unlikely any traffic calming solutions would have prevented the collision which killed Grubisic. She was in the middle of the road, chasing down her dog, while the driver was likely momentarily blinded by the sun’s glare as he came over the crest of a hill.

It was the wrong place, the wrong time for both, and both are victims. Anyone who saw the driver that day knows this to be true.

Yet even if nothing could have been done to prevent this accident, that doesn’t mean nothing should be done to prevent others. Anyone who has driven off of the Trans-Canada Highway onto Goldstream Avenue knows how easy it is to speed there, despite the 40 km/h drop in speed limit, followed shortly after by another 20 km/h decline.

Speeding traffic, a lack of sidewalks, shoulders covered in parked cars and children walking to and from school create a potentially leathal combination in the area.

Langford says speed bumps are not the best method to slow down traffic, but surely there are other options to explore. And, yes, there are safety concerns on many other stretches of road in the same community, but here we see an organized group of residents, coming together, committed to find a solution.

We hope they continue to champion their cause and that the city manages to find a way to work with them, in the spirit of community which so evidently prevails.