The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) has opened an investigation into a collision between a cyclist and a young girl who was crossing the street to board a school bus, a day after video of the incident began circulating widely online.
Advocacy groups as well as the mayor of Montreal have commented on the incident, which took place on Thursday, saying it serves as a reminder that all road users need to obey the school bus stop sign.
The video shows the child leaving her home, walking up to the sidewalk and stopping as a school bus approaches on Jeanne-Mance Street in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough.
There’s a bike lane between the car lane and the sidewalk where the little girl is standing.
Once the school bus stops, the child begins to skip into the street to catch the bus. When she starts to cross the bike lane, a cyclist runs into her.
The child was not seriously injured. The video shows an adult assisting the child after the collision and bringing her back home.
The SPVM told CBC News it wants to reach out to the different parties involved in the incident. It also said it’s too early to say that a criminal offence was committed.
Surveillance footage shows a child being hit by a cyclist in Montreal after crossing the street to catch a school bus. According to Quebec’s Highway Safety Code, the cyclist had an obligation to stay five metres away from the school bus once it activated its stop sign.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante described the collision as “shocking” and said it underlines the need for all road users to obey the Highway Safety Code.
In a post of its own, the advocacy group Vélo Québec said “the Highway Safety Code is clear.”
“A cyclist has to come to a stop in front of the flashing red lights or the school bus’s stop sign: End of story,” the post reads.
When a school bus activates its flashing red lights and stop sign, all road users, whether they’re trailing the bus or facing it, must stay at least five metres away from it.
According to the Quebec government, road users can only meet or pass the school bus once the flashing red lights are turned off, the stop signal has been retracted and the person driving or cycling is certain it is safe to continue.