A collision between a small car and a Spirit of the Sea Festival shuttle bus sent one person to hospital last weekend and left one local resident wondering why the intersection in question lacks a four-way stop sign.
The crash occurred at the intersection of Roper Avenue and Foster Street around 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The driver of the car was transported by ambulance to Peace Arch Hospital as a precaution following the accident, but her injuries were not considered life-threatening.
A number of children and adults on the bus suffered what were described as bumps and bruises by the White Rock Fire Department.
Local resident Frank Bott said drivers routinely run the two-way stop signs at the intersection, failing to stop and look for traffic that has the right of way.
The result has been a lot of near-misses.
“Every day, there’s people running the stop sign, or skidding,” Bott told Peace Arch News Wednesday.
“It’s an everyday occurrence.”
The city recently replaced the existing stop signs at the intersection with slightly larger stop signs mounted higher, but they don’t seem to be having much effect, Bott said.
The Saturday crash is the second serious collision at the intersection in just over two years.
In May of 2010, two men were taken to hospital following a roll-over collision at the same intersection.
An older model Honda hit the back end of an SUV, which rolled over and came to rest on its rooftop.
At the time, White RCMP Const. Janelle Shoihet said while police files only show a few collisions at the intersection, its location on a hill does create “a bit of a blind side” for northbound drivers.
Bott warned that without a four-way stop or a roundabout going in, there could be a fatal crash one day.
He said residents have raised the issue with city hall, but with little success.
The city engineer was unavailable for comment at PAN press time Wednesday.