Family pets struck down by speeding car – city orders traffic count

It should have been just another walk. But as Bill Elias stepped onto his residential street in Steinbach with his two dogs, a speeding car changed everything for him and his wife Karen.

The vehicle struck both dogs, killing Bella instantly and fatally injuring Zoe who was put down at a Winnipeg vet later that day.

That tragic incident prompted a letter to Steinbach city council asking them to do something to stop the speeding on Harmony Lane.

The incident happened on Dec. 19 just after 6 p.m.

Bill said the vehicle was a grey “Malibu-type” car. The driver never stopped, and Bill was too concerned for his pets which he and Karen describe as “our girls” to get a licence plate number.

In a letter sent to city council dated Jan. 7, and included on the Jan. 21 council agenda, they expressed their concern about the issue saying they’re worried about other neighbourhood children and pets.

“This could have been someone’s child, and we don’t want to wait until it gets there,” the letter stated.

The couple expressed their frustration saying children have almost been hit because of the speed of the vehicles on Harmony Lane.

“This has got to stop, and I will not stop until something is done,” the letter states. “I will go to whatever length I need to go.”

While they have contacted the RCMP in the past, they admit frustration with lack of response played a part in them not reporting the incident involving their dogs.

They suggested a solution to council, that putting up a three-way stop at the intersection of Harmony Lane and Cutlass Drive and possibly adding speed bumps would help the situation.

Stop sign not designed to cut speed

Councillors agreed with the Elias family on the potential solution.

“We need to take a look at this and address if there needs to be stop sign in that area,” Coun. Susan Penner said.

Coun. Jac Siemens agreed telling his council colleagues that other traffic calming devices should also be considered.

Mayor Earl Funk echoed their sentiments and also asked deputy mayor Michael Zwaagstra to bring the issue to the RCMP advisory board meeting for which he’s chair.

“Part of the issue they’re raising is one of enforcement and clearly we need enforcement of the speed limit here,” he said in agreement.

But city manager Troy Warkentin said city staff could not do more than a traffic study to see if a stop sign is warranted.

“While the City of Steinbach has expertise to do the traditional traffic counts to evaluate the three-way stop request, traditionally the city would seek the services of an outside consultant to evaluate other measures. That would come with a cost. At this point there’s no budget funding approved for that type of initiative,” he said.

Penner voiced her frustration with a simple traffic count.

“I’m not sure the issue here is the volume of traffic for the stop sign,” she said. “I think the issue here is speed.”

But Warkentin warned that stop signs are intended for traffic flows.

“Stop signs are not intended to be speed control devices,” he said. “If the concern is the speed of traffic, then a stop sign review… would likely not deliver the results that maybe you’re expecting. If it’s an evaluation of excessive speed that could require a different analysis.”

Penner again objected to the idea that stop signs won’t slow traffic down.

“Surely a stop sign does slow speed though,” she said. “If you have to stop, you have to slow down.”

While Warkentin conceded that in the immediate area of the stop sign, that may be true, he added a new concern.

“Traffic, if they’re speeding and they’re exceeding the speed limit, there is also the chance that they would disobey a traffic control device such as a stop sign,” he added.

Council decided they would start with a stop sign review and consider next steps after it’s completed.

“We will start here. There might be more to come,” Mayor Earl Funk conclude.

The traffic study is expected to be complete within two months.