One Elliot Lake woman is asking drivers to be careful while driving on Pearson road at night because she said she almost gets hit daily.
"I exercise at night because I work all day and take care of the kids when they get home from school and can only go for my walks at night," said walker Ashlee Barbeau. "I live at the end of Pearson and my routine is walking halfway down Pearson and back. The amount of people who don't pay attention and almost hit me and a few other walkers is absolutely disgusting. There should be sidewalks."
Barbeau explained that her and two other walkers wear reflective gear to show drivers that they're there.
"Our reflective gear is bright enough to warn others of us walking and apparently it's not good enough," she explained. "We just want to warn drivers that there are people that walk on this road. Please be mindful when driving at night. It's on all roads people are walking."
Walking during the day on Pearson road with her dog, Cosmo, Jake Larabie said it's not just a night time issue, it's an all hours issue.
"I've seen drivers trying to get close to me and my dog to see how close they can get," he said. "It's disheartening. Why can't they move over if it's safe to do so? If I move any closer to the side of the road, I'll be in the ditch. The city should put sidewalks here. A lot of people walk these roads day in and day out."
Both Barbeau and Larabie said they've informed police about this issue but according to both, no patrol or police presence has been seen as of yet.
"I called the police station and informed them that people are purposely trying to get closer to walkers and that one day someone will get hit and I was told someone would call me back," said Larabie. "Nothing has happened. It's been three months."
According to Barbeau, she's seen an increase of distracted drivers and believes this is the reason why she almost gets hit daily.
"I see people texting when I'm on my walks and then they're like 'Oh no, I almost hit someone' and still continue on driving," she said. "I had one person stop the car and come to me to apologize to me for almost hitting me and said they didn't see me. That was nice. I also had another driver last week stop and yell at me to get on the sidewalk. What sidewalk? We need one. No one wants to do anything."
"We just want people to watch out for people while walking," said Barbeau. "We don't want any people getting hurt."