Make road safety a priority, urges mom of Toronto preschooler hit by car

The mother of a three-year-old boy struck and injured by a driver last week in Toronto's Wychwood neighbourhood says city officials and motorists driving near schools must put the safety of children first.

Amanda Bokamyer, mother of Waylon Dennison, 3, says children have a right to cross streets safely to and from school in Toronto.

On Monday, Nov. 8 at 3:30 p.m., Waylon was hit while walking in between his caregiver and two taller children, one of which was his sister. They were in the crosswalk at the intersection of Hendrick and Benson Avenues, south of St. Clair Avenue West and Oakwood Avenue. 

"Toronto is becoming unsafer for our kids," Bokamyer said. "It shouldn't take one child to get harmed, it shouldn't take a tragedy to happen for us to mobilize. I think that there are real community concerns that need to be addressed at the councillor level."

According to Bokamyer, Waylon's caregiver had told him it was clear for him, his sister and another child to walk across the street from the southwest to the southeast corner. His caregiver was on the road behind him, instructing a number of children to proceed.

Bokamyer said she thinks the driver did not see her son and tried to nudge in between the taller children and the caregiver who was inches away from the car, close enough to touch it.

Moments before the collision, the caregiver screamed for Waylon to stop. The driver slammed on her brakes and hit Waylon. He was in the process of turning around, and fell backward and hit his head. He suffered a minor concussion, scrapes and bruises. Toronto paramedics took him to hospital, where he was treated and released. The driver remained on scene. 

"I was crippled and paralyzed with fear," said Bokamyer of receiving the phone call saying her son had been hurt.

"It is a phone call that no mom should ever have to take, especially knowing that my son did all the right things," she said.

"He crossed when he was asked to cross. And he walked and he was in a crosswalk. Even if you do everything right, there are drivers out there who are in a hurry. It's time for us to take a breath as a community. We should all be looking after the little ones."

Bokamyer said the city needs to make the intersection safer immediately. She said that could mean hiring a crossing guard or not allowing traffic in the intersection during drop off and pick up times at school.

Hendrick Avenue, south of Benson Avenue, turns into a short dead end street that leads into the back yard of McMurrich Junior Public School where children line up for class. A number of vehicles use the street to drop off and pick up children, but it isn't wide enough for vehicles to make a U-turn. Cars have to back up.

"In the end, what we all would like to see is for the intersection just to be a safer place," Bokamyer said. "This needs to start at a grassroots level and those people who are in power need to start listening to us as community members."

She said the intersection, "an ongoing challenge in the community," is an example of how even residential roads are dangerous for children and road safety should be a priority in Toronto.