Driver flees after girl hit in crosswalk

A six-year-old child is in hospital and Saanich police are searching for the driver who hit her in a marked crosswalk on Monday morning.

She was struck in a crosswalk at the intersection of Glanford Avenue and Kenneth Street at 7:30 a.m. while crossing with her older sister, who was not injured, according to witnesses.

The vehicle did not remain at the scene and was last seen northbound on Glanford Avenue, said Const. Deep Atwal.

The girl was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The vehicle is described as white, possibly a late 1980s or early 1990s vehicle with a boxy body style. It has a silver bumper and damaged passenger sideview mirror.

Anyone with information can call the Saanich Police Department at 250-475-4321.

Leah Churchill, who lives on Glanford near Kenneth, said she came out of her house after she heard a man yelling. She later learned it was a man who said he had witnessed the hit-and-run and was yelling at the driver to come back.

Churchill saw the six-year-old girl lying on the road with her head in her older sister’s lap. The girl looked to be in shock, she said.

Churchill said despite the flashing lights at the crosswalk, cars often speed through. “I’ve only lived here for three years and I can count numerous times that I’ve almost been hit.”

The crosswalk has pedestriancontrolled flashing lights, but Churchill said something more needs to be done to make the crosswalk safe for pedestrians. “It’s really horrible, actually. First of all, cars aren’t doing the speed limit, ever,” Churchill said, adding that she’s always concerned when her 15-year-old daughter crosses there. “I’m surprised this hasn’t happened more.”

Hollis Hodson, president of the Residents Association of Strawberry Vale, Marigold and Glanford, said the Glanford neighbourhood has seen a lot of pressure with more vehicles on the road.

“We have a lot of vehicles moving around in an area that’s already strained,” she said. “Did that contribute to what happened? I don’t know.”

The issue of speeding at another Saanich residential intersection came to a head after 11-year-old Leila Bui was struck at a crosswalk on Ash Road at Torquay Drive in Gordon Head on Dec. 20, 2017. She had just left her home and was crossing the street to get a ride to school with a classmate.

The crash left Leila with a severe brain injury and saw neighbours level criticism at the District of Saanich for not acting on their requests to install speedreduction measures in the area.

Saanich’s engineering department made improvements to the road in April 2018.

A 21-year-old North Saanich woman, Tenessa Nikirk, has been charged with one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.