Concerns raised after spate of pedestrian-vehicle accidents
Debbie Hanlon and RNC look for options to prevent incidents involving walkers
A spate of pedestrian-vehicle accidents in the downtown has a city councillor and the RNC looking for solutions to help keep the public safe when crossing busy roads.
In the last two weeks, there have been four reported pedestrian-vehicle accidents near the downtown. Injuries have ranged from minor to severe.
The crosswalk in front of city hall, despite being well-lit and with a pedestrian-activated traffic light, has been the scene of two of the recent incidents.
Coun. Debbie Hanlon, transportation lead, says part of the problem with the city hall crosswalk is people not taking it seriously as a red light, as well as distracted driving.
“People don’t slow down, they really don’t. There’s times when I’m walking across and
they’re coming close. I don’t think people think of it as a stoplight. It’s reactionary, activated by us,” said Hanlon.
“If you look in our city, almost every day there’s an accident. I think a lot of it has to do with texting and driving. If you have your head down for two seconds coming down Queen’s Road and you hit someone on that, your life is changed forever, and theirs as well.”
Hanlon says she plans to raise the issue with city staff to determine what can be done to make high-traffic crosswalks safer.
“What can we do? We can install more signage, more lights, a system that flashes before the light turns red,” she said.
In some other municipalities, such as Halifax, flags are used at certain crosswalks. The pedestrians take the highly visible flags with them as they cross the road, as one more way to increase visibility.
Hanlon says she brought the idea forward during her first tenure as Ward 4 councillor, but city staff at the time decided against the measure.
“I thought that idea was fabulous,” said Hanlon.
She says she will reintroduce the idea of crosswalk flags in light of the recent incidents.
Late on Wednesday, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary issued a news release asking motorists and pedestrians alike to do their part to keep the roads safe.
For pedestrians, police recommend bright, coloured clothing at night or, when visibility is low, crossing only at designated crosswalks, and avoiding texting and walking.
For motorists, police say drivers have to slow down in low visibility conditions, do no texting while driving, slow down in pedestrian-heavy areas, clean all snow and frost from windshields and ensure dark tinting is not used on front windows of vehicles.