Another collision with tree, another fatality on Lakeshore Road

A young man died early this morning after hitting a tree on Lakeshore Road in Niagara-on-the-Lake — the same tree that was the site of a collision and death of a 49-year-old woman a year ago, the morning of June 9, 2023.

When police were called to Lakeshore Road this morning about 5 a.m., they discovered a “serious motor vehicle collision,” Const. Jesse Vujasic told The Local in an email.

Along with police, the Niagara Falls Fire Department and Niagara Emergency Medical Services were at the scene, Vujasic said, “suffering from life-threatening injuries. Tragically the male driver was pronounced deceased at a local hospital.”

The young woman who collided with a tree a year ago, alone in her car, also died on the way to the hospital. The flowers on the tree in her memory are still there, visible above the car that hit the tree this morning.

Lakeshore Road from Old Lakeshore Road and Four Mile Creek Road was closed this morning and remained at noon.

A year ago, nearby resident Shirley Madsen told The Local it makes her angry that despite the number of collisions along that stretch of road, nothing has been done to the regional road to at least mark the curve better to slow down drivers as they approach.

Madsen said again this morning, that to her knowledge, nothing has been done.

She told The Local someone from the region had said they would move the speed minder from the Chautauqua area closer to the curve, but that never happened.

She said her husband Finn was awake early this morning, and saw the road was closed. The couple walked down the road to talk to police still at the scene, and became emotional when she related what they learned about another tragic death at that same site.

Shirley had posted a photo of today’s tragedy on Facebook, but when she learned the family of the driver had not been notified, she took it down. She had reservations about posting it, but is outraged that another death has occurred with nothing being done since to make that road safer.

She later had a post from a NOTL councillor saying representatives from the town and the region have had some discussions about safety measures, which she would not have known about, but to her mind, nothing has changed.

Later this morning, the mother of the woman who died last year came to see Shirley, and told her she has received no information from the police about the investigation into her daughter’s death, and as far as she knows, the investigation has not been closed. The two women walked down the road to the scene of the collision and had a brief conversation with police, a very emotional and difficult time for both, Shirley said.

“I felt like I was just getting my life back in order,” Shirley told The Local, recalling an incident last July when a car heading from Chautauqua toward St. Catharines spun out, became airborne, and landed on the Madsen’s front lawn, destroying part of their garden, gate and pillars.

The final portion of the work to restore the pillars was completed last week, she said, and she has been working out in her garden on the finishing touches.

The region was contacted by The Local Wednesday morning with questions regarding any discussions or plans to improve safety along that portion of Lakeshore, and said an emailed statement likely wouldn’t be available until later today.

Detectives with the collision reconstruction unit have taken over the Investigation of today’s fatality.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Niagara Regional Police Service at 905-688-4111, option 3 ext. 1009367.