A Chatham woman is pushing for a safer crossing on Thames St. after an 8-year-old boy was hit by a car there earlier this week.
Deb James, who lives next door to the boy's family, says it was only a matter of time before someone was hit.
"Drivers are really aggressive on this street -- kids don't have a chance out here," says James. "All of the kids from the [apartment] building have friends on the other side of the street, so they cross the street. But there's no cross walk, there's no lights anywhere... it's basically, when the traffic stops, you run."
The 8-year-old boy, who was hit Tuesday evening, is in a London hospital being treated for what police believe are non-life threatening injuries.
James says she was at work when it happened, but she heard about it from her daughter, who was at home at the time.
"His parents were there almost immediately to cover him and protect him from oncoming traffic until it slowed down," says James. "It's a rough area for kids because there's no place to play."
In order to make crossing the road safer there, James has written a letter to the municipality of Chatham-Kent, pointing out that there are no crosswalks near the apartment building at the corner of Thames St. and Chatham St.
She says that needs to change, adding there should also be a reduced speed limit in the area.
"It's not just kids, there are elderly people in the neighbourhood," says James. "It's way, way far down [the street] to cross the street to have coffee with a neighbour or for kids to play with one another or to catch the school bus for that matter."
Police previously told BlackburnNews.com the driver who hit the boy did not appear to be speeding or driving recklessly at the time of the crash at the time.
In response to James' letter, Jan Metcalfe, an engineering technologist with the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, replied saying "at this time Chatham-Kent Police Service is conducting an investigation of this very unfortunate incident. All recommendations are pending the results of that investigation, which we hope will be concluded as soon as possible."
While James waits for that to happen, she's keeping herself busy by drumming up support for the 8-year-old boy's family. She is currently collecting gift cards for them to help cover their grocery, gas, and pharmacy costs when the boy returns home from the hospital.
-With files from Sarah Cowan
