Loved ones of teen killed in crash demand fix to ‘ridiculously unsafe’ intersection

Friends and family of a teen killed earlier this month in a car crash in Norwich Township are calling for more safety measures at what they say is a dangerous intersection near Otterville.

“We want additional signage, the signage at the intersection is completely insufficient,” Heather Hillen said. “It is ridiculously unsafe still. How many people have to die in order for you to put up stop signs?

“The fact it hasn’t been made a three-way stop is stounding to me.”

Hillen is a friend of Karen Hanson-Crump, whose 16-year-old son Lucas Crump was killed in the

Aug. 4 collision

at Cornell and Furnace roads. Avery Isabella Warwick, 18, of Mount Pleasant also died in the single-vehicle crash.

Hanson-Crump of Brantford is “shattered” by her son’s death, and they plan to put up a memorial sign at the crash site in September, Hillen said.

“He was her whole world,” she said.

The group has started a petition at

https://www.change.org/p/saving-lives-at-a-notorious-intersection-at-furnace-rd-and-cornell-rd

and will speak at a Norwich Township council meeting on Sept. 12, Hillen said.

Norwich residents who live near the crash site say there have been several collisions in recent years.

This was the fourth crash in the same spot since 2016, and the second fatal one, they say.

Local residents had petitioned Norwich Township to make the intersection safer last fall by adding street lights, flashing lights and more guardrails, the residents said, adding the municipality made small changes.

There is a memorial for another person near the scene who died in a crash in 1993, they said.

The collision at Cornell Street – also known as Cornell Hill – and Furnace Road occurred at the bottom of a steep hill with a bridge and a sharp turn to the left. There is a stop sign on Furnace Street.

Seven youths were on their way to visit one of their grandparents in Otterville when the

vehicle they were in crashed

just after midnight, Hillen said.

The vehicle veered off the road at the edge of a ditch and hit a line of cedar tree. The line of trees was planted to replace ones taken out in previous crashes, a woman who lives nearby said.

Lee Robinson, chief administrator of Norwich Township, said township staff are not aware of any other fatal fatal crashes at the intersection in the last 15 years, but acknowledged one happened in the mid to late 1990s.

“Significant changes have been undertaken to the road since the 1990s,” Robinson said in an email. “The township expresses our condolences to the victims and their families and our thanks to the first responders.”

According to a staff report dated Jan. 17, 2023, the speed limit was reduced from 80 kilometers an hour to 50 km/h on Cornell Road at the top of the hill heading east, with signs warning of the reduced speed limit, as well as three rumble strips.

As well a steep slope sign and a 40 km/h sign was installed.

Midway down the hill there is a “intersection with curve” warning sign, followed by the beginning of guiderails on each side with “bridge end” signs.

Another 40 km/h sign with a 24-hour flashing amber light was installed at the beginning of the curve.

“Staff is confident the unsafe driving habits and destruction of private property in this area are the direct result of speeding,” the report said. “When the hill and curve are navigated at the posted and suggested speeds it is more than safe to do so.

“The signage installed by the township meets or exceeds the minimum requirements laid out in the Ontario traffic manuals.”

Visual improvements, including additional reflectors on guiderails to visually define the curve in the road, were completed in the spring, Robinson said.

Council voted to add more rumble strips to the road “to bring audible attention to speed advisory and approaching curve” signs, he said. They were scheduled to be installed this summer.

The early-morning crash comes roughly eight months after another double fatal crash involving a vehicle full of high school students west of London.

Friends

Aleah Van Erp

17, and Lola Fentie, 16, were killed and three others injured in a single-vehicle rollover crash on Amiens Road, just south of Melrose Drive in Middlesex Centre, on Dec. 22.

On May 21 two women, aged 23 and 24, and a 24-year-old man died when a tanker truck and vehicle collided in

Wallaceburg

on May 21.

Two London 17-year-olds

died following a collision between a pickup truck and vehicle at Ilderton and Wonderland roads in Middlesex Center at about 9:30 pm on Saturday.

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