A community and high school remain in mourning after a 17-year-old boy was killed in a single-vehicle collision in Hammonds Plains, N.S.
The driver of the vehicle, another 17-year-old, was arrested at the scene of the crash before he was taken to hospital. He has since been released from police custody, but police can’t confirm whether charges will be laid at a later date.
A roadside shrine made up of flowers placed by Simon Coffey’s parents now marks the spot where the two teens careened off Rochester Drive at 9 a.m. Friday.
Fellow student Ben Murphy visited the scene on Saturday to place a bouquet of flowers on the roadside in honour of Coffey, who he says was an exceptional person.
"One of the funniest, nicest, most humble people I’ve ever met in my entire life. A good friend, a brother,” he says.
Some of those who were at the scene to pay tribute to Coffey included students from his school. Even those who didn’t know the deceased say they only heard good things about him.
“He would always stand there and just kind of gradual greeting, but he would always seem kind of quiet and polite, and very nice, and everybody always had good things to say about him, so it's really, really heartbreaking,” says student Mikayla Greening.
The tragedy has become food for thought for some new, young drivers.
“Especially, a lot of kids at high school are learning to drive now, and don't have a lot of experience already, and a lot of people getting their learners, and their fulls,” Greening says.
Students at Sir John A. MacDonald High and Charles P. Allen High School were informed about the crash in a morning announcement on Friday and a note was sent home with them.
“People walking around the hallways and just hugging and crying, the mood on a Friday afternoon, it was really different from what it usually was,” she says.
A police investigation continues and an accident reconstructionist spent several hours taking measurements at the scene.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ron Shaw.
