A speeding driver smashed an Oak Bay family’s car mirror on Lower Henderson Road on Oct. 13 – and then sped off – an incident that has residents wanting changes like speed bumps installed to slow down drivers.
Retirees Pam and Jeff Barnett were having a quiet afternoon when they heard a loud noise from their street around 3 p.m. It was a neighbour from across the street who yelled, “That’s Pam’s car,” after a dark vehicle went speeding by.
“I went outside and we saw the mirror that was laying on the ground smashed everywhere, which we assumed was the offending car,” said Jeff, feeling relieved that their car mirror was still intact. The speeder’s mirror, however, was a few metres away on Jeff and Pam’s next-door neighbour’s front lawn. According to Jeff, his neighbour didn’t see the vehicle, but heard a noisy vehicle speeding.
“Nobody actually saw the car and it was a black mirror,” said Jeff. “So, you know, I didn’t think I would bother with the police because what’s the point, I have a mirror that could be off of any car. So I posted on Oak Bay Local, you know, sort of just to rant and rave to the owner of the car who smashed my wife’s mirror. ‘Thanks a lot, here’s your broken mirror. Maybe you’d like to connect with us?’ That’s kind of where I left it.”
The couple has been living in their home on Henderson Road for 35 years. The portion of Henderson Road they live on is one street over from Foul Bay Road. During rush hour or periods of heavy traffic, Jeff said he’s seen cars often coming up their road, speeding to avoid Foul Bay.
“We’re long-term residents here and I think it’s just the way things are, is things are getting a lot busier with more traffic on the road,” said Jeff. “We’ve actually noticed much more traffic on this road. Ideally, we haven’t conversed with the neighbours yet but the thing we like to seriously think about is getting the municipality to put speed bumps on this road. There are a number of young families, and particularly on that day one neighbour did mention that there were some young kids playing at the end of the street. If that car were to come really fast when they were playing, that would have hit them for sure. My wife sometimes has to be extremely careful on her way out from where it is parked on the street.”
This isn’t the first time this happened on the couple’s street.
“This happens all the time, we’ve had neighbours up the street and whose car has been slightly dinged because somebody went whoosh down the road. So it seems to be happening a lot more,” said Jeff.
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