'That's just heartless': Witness pleads for driver in fatal hit and run to come forward

A woman who tended to a motorcycle rider struck and killed by a van on Portage Avenue on Saturday is calling on the driver responsible to own up to the mistake.

"I would say, 'Come forward, clear your conscience,'" said Heather Traverse, 30. 

"How are you able to go on with your daily life knowing that somebody's life has been taken because of an accident you've been a part of?"

Winnipeg police are asking for help finding the driver of the van and the passenger, who fled from the fatal collision on foot.

The van, travelling north on Home Street, hit the motorcycle, heading west on Portage Avenue, at about 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, police said. The motorcyclist was taken to hospital in critical condition.

Police confirmed on Sunday that the man, who was in his 40s, died in hospital.

The van was not reported stolen. 

Traverse was across the street from the collision at Vimy Ridge Park for a picnic when she heard a loud commotion. 

She yelled when she saw a person flying in the air and, with other witnesses, ran toward the injured man.

A friend administered CPR, while another person removed his helmet and other people dialed 911. 

"I stood there and I was just praying for him," Traverse said. "There was about four, five people around him, helping him."

She said the man was not responsive.

Traverse decided to speak publicly about what she witnessed after receiving permission from the sister of the motorcyclist.

She said the family deserves justice. 

"When I think of that, I just think, how can somebody do that? If I was in that situation I would obviously get out and I would go and see what I could do and help."

3rd motorcycle fatality

Traverse remembers shouting for the driver but no one spoke up or seemed to notice that the person ran away.

"For somebody to leave and do that to another human, that's just heartless," she said.

Winnipeg police are asking witnesses to contact investigators at 204-986-7085.

The death is the third motorcycle fatality on Manitoba roads this year — all within the last five weeks.

The province has averaged five motorcycle deaths a year from 2011 to 2015, said Manitoba Public Insurance. 

Last year, seven motorcycle riders died in crashes, MPI's preliminary figures say.

Stricter penalties needed, rider says

Doug Houghton has organized an annual motorcycle safety rally in Winnipeg for two decades. He said there needs to be stronger penalties against distracted driving — which has not been proven as a factor in the three fatal crashes.

"There's an increasing disregard for other drivers on the road, whether they be motorcyclists or automobile drivers," he said. "People seem to think they have an entitlement to the road. I think there's time for an attitude change."

Brian Segal, a former president of the Coalition of Manitoba Motorcycle Groups, is a member of a few road safety committees with officials from the province and Manitoba Public Insurance.

They acknowledge that distracting driving is a growing phenomenon, but Segal believes change is not being enacted fast enough.

"My question is how many of my friends are going to die while they're changing it slowly?" said Segal, who knew two of the three victims.

Segal, who has been a motorcycle rider for 50 years, only rides on rural highways because he's scared to drive in Winnipeg.

"Drunk driving did not change until the penalties got so severe with huge fines, suspensions, seizures of vehicles —that's when it finally changed."

The Manitoba government introduced legislation earlier this year that would impose an automatic three-day licence suspension on distracted drivers. The new law has not been authorized yet.

MPI says distracted driving accidents in the province went from 2,415 in 2011 to 11,086 in 2016.

2 fatal crashes outside Winnipeg

The province's first motorcycle fatality of the year happened on May 5 when a 31-year-old motorcycle rider from Carman, heading north on the town's Main Street, was hit by a southbound pickup truck turning in to a gas station.

The driver of the pickup truck, a 56-year-old man from Treherne, faces multiple charges, including impaired driving causing death.

On May 25, a 71-year-old man from East St. Paul was killed when he was hit by two, possibly three, vehicles.

The motorcyclist was travelling west on Highway 213 near Lornehill Road in the municipality of Springfield around 11 p.m. when he was hit from behind by a vehicle driven by a 16-year-old, police said.

The collision threw the motorcyclist off his bike. He landed on the road, where he was hit by another westbound vehicle, driven by a 30-year-old woman from Portage la Prairie. Police believe the motorcyclist was hit a third time by a vehicle travelling east, but the driver did not stop. 

May was motorcycle safety awareness month in Manitoba.