‘It looked brutal’: Residents reeling after three pedestrians struck on Ottawa Street North

Beyond the cloud of dust and smoke arising from an east Hamilton collision Sunday afternoon was a man on his knees, crying for help.

My baby, my baby!" neighbours recalled hearing him yell, repeatedly. Somebody help, please!"

Steps away from him - on a plot of land next to a sidewalk on Ottawa Street North, near the Centre on Barton - were the bodies of his wife and stepchild, lying motionless in blades of knee-high grass.

It was around 4 p.m. when Hamilton police say the trio was struck by an out of control" car on the sidewalk adjacent to the railroad tracks on Ottawa Street, between Beach Road and Dalhousie Avenue.

Const. Krista-Lee Ernst said the car, a black 2008 Chevy Equinox, went airborne after passing the tracks, the driver quickly losing control, weaving into the opposite lane and mounting a curb before hitting the family.

A 10-year-old child and his 30-year-old mother were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, while a 29-year-old man was treated by paramedics for minor injuries. As of Monday, the mother and child remained in critical condition, Ernst said.

The driver of the Chevy failed to remain at the scene and fled on foot. Ernst said investigators have yet to rule out speed and impairment as factors in the hit-and-run.

The serious collision prompted dozens of nearby residents to come out of their homes.

It looked brutal," said Angel Card, who lives just behind the site of the collision and heard the male adult victim's pleas. He was just kneeling and in absolute shock, screaming crying out for help."

Despite the horrific nature of the crash, neighbours told The Spectator they weren't surprised.

Crashes happen by the railway there all the time," said Paul Lanante, adding just two weeks ago, a car flew past the tracks and took out a tree next to his home.

A Spectator analysis of the Hamilton fire department's automated incident feed shows emergency crews have been called to five collisions on Ottawa between the railway tracks and Barton Street East since mid-April.

It's just constant," said Chris Scroope. This was a horrific crash expected to happen."

Scroope said the road between the tracks and Barton is a straightway" that encourages speedy drivers and imperils pedestrians. There are no traffic lights on the roughly 400-metre stretch, and no signage before the tracks to warn drivers that it sits on an incline.

And cars just go through there and fly," the 62-year-old said of the railway crossing. It's literally a jump."

Besides traffic lights and signage, a lack of general upkeep in the area has drawn the ire of several residents.

The sidewalk where the family was hit Sunday is barely visible from across the road and shrouded in tall strands of grass and weeds.

I've called the city to come cut it and nobody has," said Sara Perry. And I keep thinking: if it was cut, would that driver have been able to see (the family) and move out of the way?"

Ernst didn't say whether police have flagged the area near Ottawa and Barton as a concern for collisions.

However, it is a priority working with our partners at the city to identify high collision areas and making sure that measures are taken," she said.

Sunday's crash just is the latest in a spate of serious collisions involving pedestrians or cyclists in Hamilton.

The Spectator has reported on nearly two-dozen of them already this year in which 11 people have been killed - the highest-tally in a decade.

Last week, the city's Public Works Committee approved a guide to build safer streets in the city, particularly ones that protect vulnerable users like cyclists and pedestrians.

Anyone with information about the crash on Ottawa Street is asked to contact police at 905-546-2907.

To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppershamilton.com.

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com