Safe-driving message takes on new urgency

Merely two short weeks ago, members of Brandon City Council and the parents of 15-year-old Antoine Sutherland gathered with friends and supporters to unveil a memorial plaque at the corner of Victoria Avenue and McDiarmid Drive.

Antoine was a Grade 10 student at Vincent Massey High School who had finished playing basketball one October day in 2023 and was biking home when he was struck by a vehicle.

As we have previously reported, Prabhjot Singh Grewal has been charged with one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death. His trial is slated for Oct. 18-28, 2027 in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench.

In Antoine’s memory, the plaque has a singular message: Drive safely.

Though more than two and a half years had passed since Antoine’s death, his parents’ emotions were still very raw when they unveiled the memorial. There is no easy path forward for those who are left behind to mourn the death of a child.

That fact nearly became a reality for the families of three other children who were all involved in collisions with vehicles at pedestrian crosswalks this week.

Early Tuesday morning, a 16-year-old girl named Faith was walking in a crosswalk in the 1900 block of Richmond Avenue while on her way to work when she was struck by an SUV.

In a brief conversation with the Sun, Faith’s mother, Krista McPherson, said her daughter had sustained around nine broken ribs, a break in her pelvis, lacerations and road rash.

“As far as I know, we’ll be here for a few weeks, and she has a long, long road of recovery ahead of her,” she said. “My emotions are everywhere. I’m sad, I’m angry, overall just grateful she’s still here.”

The Brandon Police Service said they seized the vehicle and officers brought the 38-year-old woman who was driving to BPS headquarters, though as of Friday, police had not charged the motorist. In a statement Friday morning, BPS said investigations involving serious injuries are thorough and can take “weeks or months to ensure all available evidence is collected and carefully assessed.”

On Thursday, Brandon police responded to yet another motor vehicle collision — this time at Sixth Street and Richmond Avenue — involving two 10-year-old girls. The two girls were crossing southbound on Sixth Street, according to police, when they were struck by an SUV driving westbound on Richmond. One of the girls was hit by the front of the vehicle, and the other was hit by the side of it.

Though BPS stated the girls had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, the aunt of one of the girls posted to social media that both girls were rushed to Winnipeg for surgery. The aunt further stated that the collision occurred in a construction zone.

The vehicle involved was towed and seized by the police pending the assessment of a traffic analyst. The 72-year-old motorist passed a mandatory alcohol screening and was released without charges “at this time.”

Sadly, these are not isolated incidents. Numerous social media posts in relation to these collisions have expressed personal concerns about nearly being hit at crosswalks by motorists who are either driving too fast for the road conditions or not paying attention to the road in front of them.

In response to news of the Tuesday morning collision, one of Antoine’s cousins posted a message to the police bulletin on Facebook stating that “careless drivers in Brandon” don’t understand the pain of losing a family member or a friend because a driver is not paying attention or going the correct speed limit — until it’s their own family or friend that is affected.

In all fairness to the drivers in these latest two incidents, the police are still investigating both collisions, and as difficult as it may be for family, friends and members of the public to do, we need to be patient while police investigators do their work. This is particularly important as we don’t have access to all the relevant information.

Yet it must be said that anyone getting behind the wheel of a vehicle needs to be careful on our roads, whether at a crosswalk, driving through a construction zone or just taking the street home from work.

Take to heart the words “drive safely.”