City’s pedestrian fatalities remained stubbornly high last year, statistics show

Ten pedestrians died after being struck by vehicles in Edmonton last year, a persistently high total as the city pushes to reduce the number of people injured and killed on city streets.

Police statistics show 10 pedestrians were killed in the city in 2017, the same number as the year prior. Another 57 suffered major injuries, while another 197 were treated on scene by paramedics and released without needing hospital care.

The youngest person killed was four years old, the oldest 86.

Gerry Shimko, the city’s executive director of traffic safety, said it’s disturbing when anyone is killed or injured by vehicles on city streets.

“We should be able to have all the various multimodal parties on the streets without anybody being killed or seriously injured, and that’s our goal,” he said.

In 2015, Edmonton city council adopted Vision Zero, a plan to reduce serious injury collisions and fatalities on city roads, Shimko said. The Vision Zero program was created in the late 1990s in Sweden, the country that now has one of the world’s lowest rates of traffic injuries and fatalities.

Edmonton pedestrian injuries have declined since 2008, when 395 people were injured by vehicles, according to a 2016 City of Edmonton traffic safety report.

But fatalities remain stubbornly high. Between 2002 and 2017, Edmonton averaged 7.9 pedestrian fatalities. According to the report, the worst year for pedestrian fatalities was 2007, when 13 people died after being struck by vehicles. The year before, however, no pedestrians were killed on city streets.

According to the report, the worst year for pedestrian fatalities was 2007, when 13 people died after being struck by vehicles. The year before, however, no pedestrians were killed on city streets.

Senior citizens are particularly vulnerable when walking in the city. Four of last year’s ten pedestrian fatality victims were age 65 or over.

The 2016 traffic safety report also found that 68 per cent of pedestrians struck by vehicles had the right of way.

The city counts cyclist fatalities separately. One cyclist was killed last year in a hit and run near 111 Avenue and 96 Street. There were no cyclist fatalities in 2015 or 2016.

Shimko said Edmonton was by and large designed for motor vehicles, and there are areas across the city where pedestrians aren’t adequately protected from traffic.

He said design changes are being implemented to reduce speeds and put barriers between motorists and pedestrians.

He pointed to two neighbourhoods — King Edward Park and Ottewell — which have voluntarily reduced speed limits to 40 km/h from 50 km/ h.

“That also helps reduce the impacts of any vehicles on pedestrians, so we’re seeing benefits there,” he said.

The city’s full 2017 Vision Zero report is due out in May.