BOY STRUCK, KILLED BY STREET SWEEPER: A nine-year-old Fort Erie boy was struck and killed by a street sweeper Tuesday afternoon. Niagara Rigion Police say the boy was riding on his bicycle, following the huge sweeping vehicle along Dunlop Street at 4:15 p.m. The driver, Dennis Esselting, 55, of Fort Erie, stopped the street sweeper and put it in reverse. The boy was knocked from the bicycle, killing him instantly. Police were withholding the boy's name last night pending notification of next-of-kin.

Jordan didn't stand a chance

Maintenance supervisor says powerful sweepers lack safety features By KELLY LEYDIER Standerd Staff Nine-year-old Jordan Otterman didn't stand a chance Tuesday when a Fort Erie street sweeper backed over him. If you're looking for a safety feature (to prevent that accident), it's just not there," said Joe Dupuis, equipment maintenance superintendent for the City of St. Catharines. "The driver has a blind spot in the back, " he explained, noting the sweeper is designed to pick up objects

weighing as much as 18 kilograms. "They're meant to pick things up." Jordan was closely following the sweeper on Dunlop Street, a few doors down from his house, when it reversed and ran over him, killing him instantly. A similar incedent occurred last July in St. Catharines, but the man swept into the machine and survived. The foreman from Hard Rock Paving Co. had his back to a sweeper while directing traffic on Niagara Street in St. Catharines. The Vehicle's back-up beeper wasn't working and the noise of the job site prevented him from hearing the approaching vehicle.