Pedestrian collision prevention - Education, Awareness and Responsibility

My daughters are in the thick of learning how to read right now.  Some words they see and say, some they sound out and get right, while others they just can’t find the ways yet to put the sounds together and miss it completely.

When that happens, I have a choice to make.  Do I help them with the word or just ignore their mistakes and let them go on repeating their errors?  I mean, at their age, who really cares…it’s not like they are reading anything that can be the difference between passing their grade or failing…yet.  But I can assure you, if their errors aren’t pointed out, it will make a huge difference someday.  As painful as it may be, pointing out their errors is in their best interest for long-term success.

It’s a lot like pedestrian safety.  My partner and I had a very busy day answering media questions about the ‘sudden spike’ in pedestrian collisions over the last 48 hours.  (If you go back to just before Halloween, we were warning people that this was going to happen.)

The media wanted to know who is to blame, who is at fault, why is this happening and why people aren’t getting the message.  So we responded to the questions.

Who is to blame?

Simple…road users.

Who is at fault?

Simple…road users who aren’t aware, alert and observant.

Why is this happening?

Human error, distraction, environment, daylight savings time, clothing choices, ambient light, on and on.

Why aren’t people getting the message?

No answer from me…I guess you would have to ask the people who are causing the problems.

You see, road safety is everyone’s responsibility.  Plain and simple.  Everyone who uses the roads plays a role in the ensuring safety for themselves and for the other road users around them.

When a pedestrian is stuck by a vehicle, the pedestrian will always be on the losing end.  The easy thing to do would be to blame the driver for not doing their part in ensuring the safety of the pedestrian.  But, sometimes that is not the right thing to do, nor is it ever the proper thing to do for long term success of reducing collisions, injury and death.

A pedestrian who isn’t watching where they are going, disobeying traffic signals, impeding traffic, wearing dark clothes at night, crossing mid-block is not doing anything to help keep our roads safe.  They aren’t doing anything to keep themselves safe.

A driver who is distracted, travelling too fast for conditions, not looking where they need to be, impaired, etc,  is not doing anything to help keep our roads safe.  They aren’t doing anything to keep themselves safe and they aren’t doing anything to keep pedestrians safe.

A pedestrian who crosses a street mid-block at night wearing dark clothing, texting, where street lights are burnt out while listening to an MP3 player is doing nothing in terms of taking personal responsibility for their own safety.  According to many people today, I should ignore that and never point things out like that because I could be blaming the ‘victim’ (I’ll get to that in a minute).

You bet I’m going to point that out!

Now, what if a car strikes that pedestrian?  You bet I’m going to question why the driver didn’t see the pedestrian.  I’m going to ask about the speed, the lighting the location, the sight lines, the environment.  I’m going to point out that each road user has responsibility for one another.

Interviews

This whole post is because of how interviews are turned into reports.  You can be sure that when PC Hugh Smith and I are interviewed we look at all angles of any incident and where there is a safety message to any category of road user, driver, cyclist, pedestrian or transit user, we include it.

Anytime there are two people involved, each of their actions will be analyzed.  If there is any message that we can bring to light to help educate and raise awareness, we’ll bring it up.

But, no matter what we say, we do not have the last word.  It is always up to the reporters to file and even then, editors and producers have their opportunity to massage a report.  So the final copy rarely tells the whole story.

So when you read or watch, understand that there is way more information that doesn’t make a story than does.

Victim

In traffic safety, we avoid referring to anyone as a victim.  Since a pedestrian is considered a vulnerable road user, (none or little protection), people naturally refer to them as the victim.  They do get the worst of it after all. We refer to them as the injured party. Simply stated they are not always the victim.  A pedestrian that steps onto the roadway into the path of the car, not allowing the driver any opportunity to avoid striking that pedestrian can very successfully be argued as the actually the victim of someone else’s action.  Sure the pedestrian is going to be on the losing end.

All the parties involved are victimized in one manner or another.  Our society as a whole can be argued as the victims.  Because of a bad crash, roads get closed, transportation flow is compromised, people miss meetings, goods are delayed, infrastructure suffers, etc…we are all victims. 

In the end, if our road safety messaging is interpreted as placing blame, then so be it.  I would rather point out the mistakes that have led to road tragedies in an effort to educate others from making the same mistakes then to ignore the obvious and allow the same mistakes to be perpetuated.

So, that’s my view. What are yours? Agree, disagree? Let me know.  The communication is what creates awareness and education.  Thanks for reading.

Out of Town Observations

I promised my wife that during this vacation, the only work I would do is studying for an upcoming exam...so don't let her know about this post.

We drove to Florida late last week, which I why I have been very quiet both here and on Twitter. During the 24 hour dive we got to see a lot of interesting sights and behaviours on the interstates.

Even our children got in on the, "What is that person thinking?" conversations that the adults in the front seat were having. The fact that children under 8 could identify mistakes that drivers were making is a clear indication that learning to drive starts with not only the habits we portray to our children, but the behaviours they recognize in other drivers as being wrong. And it starts long before the getting ready to grab the wheel age.

Think about it...seat belt use, speeding, signals and smooth inputs are something children can easily recognize from their seats.

What kind of example and future driver are you creating?

When we get back and I am done studying, I will be writing extensively about some of the things that I have been seeing...keep in mind we are in the the state that can boast 6% of the U.S. population and is number 1 in pedestrian and cyclist deaths across America.

Toronto cyclists have bike lanes to no where....Florida pedestrians have to contend with sidewalks to no where as well!

Public Safety Alert, Pedestrian safety advice

Toronto Police News Release

Public Safety Alert, Pedestrian safety advice

Broadcast time: 10:34

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Traffic Services 416−808−1900

Pedestrian deaths on our roadways have represented a greater percentage of all traffic fatalities over the last few years. To ensure pedestrian safety, police would like to remind the public of their responsibilities crossing the roadways.

To lawfully cross a signalized intersection with pedestrian controls, you may only enter the roadway when the walk signal is illuminated for your direction of travel.

It is illegal to enter the roadway if the “do not walk signal” is flashing or is solid.

When there are no pedestrian controls, you may only enter the roadway on a solid green signal for your direction of travel.

Where there are painted lines on the roadway indicating either a pedestrian crosswalk or pedestrian crossover, you must cross within those lines.

It is illegal to cross a street mid−block and interfere with traffic.

The Toronto Police Service is encouraging pedestrians and motorists to be alert and and take the necessary steps to ensure their safety by following these tips:

− cross with traffic controls and be cautious when crossing any intersection,

− pay attention to surroundings when entering and leaving TTC vehicles,

− make sure you are visible; wear bright or reflective clothing,

− make an effort to get eye contact with drivers before stepping off the curb,

− be patient and courteous and respectful of all road−users,

− cross on a fresh signal, watching out for vehicles turning across your path.

Pedestrians have the same responsibility as motorists to follow the rules of the road and not compromise their safety or that of any road users. No matter who has the right of way,pedestrians should always be prepared to stop, look and listen for other traffic to avoid a collision.

Driver in pedestrian collision charged with running red

Reposted from the CBC News website...link at the end of the articles will take you to the original story with all the readers comments...very interesting as usual.

The driver of a car that struck and badly injured two pedestrians in midtown Toronto has been charged with careless driving and failure to stop at a red light.

Two women, aged 61 and 53, were both taken to Sunnybrook Hospital. One has life-threatening injuries and the other is listed in serious condition.

Sgt. Tim Burrows of the police traffic division said the women were struck by a red Acura as they crossed the intersection at Eglinton Avenue East and Bayview Avenue, at around 8:30 a.m.

The 61-year-old woman sustained the more serious injuries, police said in a release.

The 44-year-old driver of the Acura was charged Wednesday afternoon. She will make a court appearance in Toronto April 8.

According to police the pedestrians were inside the crosswalk, crossing from the north to the south side of Eglinton when they were hit by the car as it travelled east.

Police closed the intersection to investigate, but re-opened it at around 11:45 a.m.

There were 14 pedestrian deaths across the GTA in January. Ten of the deaths were in Toronto.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/02/17/toronto-pedestrians.html#ixzz0fwVnMn9f

Right of Way - Way to be Dead Right

One of the constants that is echoed time and time again when I am detailing the cause of collisions is the fabled, "Right of Way." I am asked, "Who had the right of way?" or I am told that, "Person 'A' had the right of way."

My response is always the same, "Right of way is a terrible argument to stand on from a hospital bed." Truthfully, the people who stand behind right of way most often are our most vulnerable road users...cyclists and pedestrians, which is why the argument from a hospital bed is for the lucky ones.

These are the same groups that scream loud and repeatedly, "Drivers don't see us, drivers don't care about us, drivers tool around in their own worlds, drivers ignore our rights to the road."

So, if you know all of the above, what makes you think that drivers heed the right of way. If they don't see you, care about you or ignore you...why in the world would you bet your life on three little words?

A quick look at the Highway Traffic Act shows that the words 'right of way' appear 18 times (26 times if you count titles). To put it into perspective yield appears 29 times and stop over 100 times.

To give the perfect example, I posed this question on Twitter Friday afternoon.

"Pop quiz. If four cars arrive at an all way stop from the four different directions at the exact same time, who goes first?"

The answers were varied and thoughtful. Some seemed reasonable and some were close, but no one actually got the real answer. There is no answer. The HTA doesn't deal with this situation. The act says that when two cars meet at an intersection at the same time the driver on the left must yield the right of way to the driver on the right.

In the scenario that I posed, all drivers had someone to their left and right...all would have to yield. The result...stalemate. By the way...best answer, "DuncansCityRide

@TrafficServices Answer - They must all get out of their cars and walk to the nearest bike shop!"

What you have to do is simple...COMMUNICATE! You have to talk to each other. Flash your highbeams, signal, wave, get eye contact....what ever it takes to cooperatively determine who is going to go and when. Most people are afraid to make a decision and will simply pass it off to the next person to choose. (You will know if there is an "A" type personality in the group...they stop look at what is happening and go.)

So back to another problem with right of way. Let's say you are a pedestrian. You have a walk signal and there is a green light for your direction of travel and you are going to walk within a crosswalk. You have the all powerful "right of way" so you go, like most pedestrians do....complete with all the confidence of the RIGHT OF WAY!!!!

What you didn't do is take into account that there is a car coming from your right. The driver of that car just had a heart attack and the car is not going to stop until it slams into something. Because of your "Right of Way" you never took the time to look and be aware of your surroundings. If you had, you more than likely would of seen the car coming, you would have recognized that the car was travelling faster than it should be towards a red light, you would have calculated that the car and yourself will meet at the exact same time, in the crosswalk, with your green light and your walk sign. So start yelling..."I have the right of way, I have the right of way, I have the..." you get the picture.

Now you are in the hospital, if you're lucky, and you stand up on your soapbox (if you can) talking about the right of way...good for you and your ideals.

Rewind. Before you step onto the roadway with the "right of way", you look, you see the car coming you realize that you will get hit if that car doesn't stop so you watch the car travel past you and you can see your family and friends and tell them about what you saw.

The Highway Traffic Act is great for regulating traffic flow and giving us direction as to what should happen. But some people make mistakes and some others just don't care about your safety. Those are the times that you hope to see a police officer that saw the offence.

So what do you do to protect yourself?

Use our roadways like no one sees you>You need to see everyone>So look, continue to look and be aware.

Obey all the laws in place to protect you>Trust that your fellow road users will do the same.

Be predictable, be seen, be cooperative>The goal is to get where you want to go safely.

COMMUNICATE with each other.

Wouldn't you rather give up your right of way than your life?

The right of way is only words until it is actually your right to take safely. You may be right about your right of way, but you could be dead right taking it...literally.

Analysis of the Toronto pedestrian fatalities of 2009

· Since January 10th, 8 people have lost their lives on Toronto’s roads.

· 7 of those deaths have been pedestrians.

· 5 women and 2 men

· Aged 31 to 80

· They were struck in the morning, evening and night (3 morning, 3 evening, 2 night)

· Good weather, poor weather, daylight and darkness

· Small vehicles to the largest ones on our roads

· From our downtown to the suburbs of Toronto

· 4 killed mid block (“Jay Walking”)

· 2 killed at intersections with vehicles turning

· 1 killed at intersection by vehicle proceeding straight

· The only common thread between all of these deaths are Vehicles and Humans

· Vehicles don’t kill or injure by themselves, the humans operating them set their destructive ability in place

· Traffic controls provide a guide for a “right of way”,

· Human situational awareness, sound decisions and common sense dictate if you should take that “right of way”

· Human error is the true cause and blame in all of these collisions.

· Human decisions have dictated the outcomes.

· Human choices have changed so many lives.

Ensuring pedestrian and traffic safety is a priority of the Toronto Police Service.

While we strive to reduce the number of collisions across Toronto, we hope that the perception of our road users is that they are safe.

Statistics show us that Toronto is one of the safest cities in the world for traffic.

In 2009, Toronto saw the fewest number of road deaths in its modern history. Even with only 48 deaths last year, our most vulnerable road users, pedestrians and cyclists, are telling us, “We don’t feel safe.”

We want to change those feelings to reflect the reality that by and large, you are safe on our streets.

Toronto has witnessed unexplained, short term spikes in both death and injury collisions in the past many times. Our belief is this is a spike once again, only with more attention as our neighbours in the GTA have seen the same collisions happening in their jurisdictions.

But it is not the nature of the Toronto Police Service to wait for a short term rise in crime to go away by itself and we will not wait for this to go away by itself either.

Traffic Services and all the Divisions across Toronto are engaging this recent problem by having officers pay special attention to pedestrian and driving offences that put lives unnecessarily at risk.

Enforcement and education are tools that have both been shown to effectively increase safety, reduce lawlessness create better neighbourhoods.

The Toronto Police Service will increase its efforts educate when the opportunity arises and enforce when warranted.

The people of Toronto have told us that enforcement for law breakers needs to be increased to re-establish a sense of civility on our roads so that those who operate within the bounds of safety and cooperation are the norm, not the exception.

Drivers can not operate with a sense of entitlement to our roads with a “me first” attitude.

Pedestrians must not walk with the belief that all drivers will see them and therefore compromise their own safety by not taking ownership and responsibility for their own safety.

Pedestrians can expect that when they interfere with traffic while crossing the road, don’t use crosswalks properly and endanger their own lives and the lives of others that they will be dealt with in the most appropriate manner.

Drivers who don’t make the safe operation of their vehicles paramount can expect to be reminded of the priority of safety through penalties and sanctions.

The Toronto Police Service will strategically position officers where problems have historically occurred or volumes demand action.

Road safety is everyone’s responsibility. It is a responsibility that begins with you and ends with your fellow road users all taking care to cooperate and be safe with each other’s lives.

Marites, Nouhad, Leena, Leovina, Chen, Yonas, Juliette...

You may been know in data analysis and media reports as numbers, but you are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers to those who love you and for that, the people of Toronto owe it to your memory to learn from the loss of your lives to prevent future deaths from happening.

11 Fatalities, 11 Days in GTA

Man on crutches fatally injured by dump truck

By IAN ROBERTSON, TORONTO SUN

Pedestrians resumed crossing against red flashing signals in a Riverdale intersection soon after paramedics removed a man’s body just after mid-day Friday.

The 57-year-old, a student at nearby City Adult Learning Centre (CATC), is the GTA’s 10th pedestrian killed on streets within 11 days.

His name was not released.

Toronto Police Traffic Sgt. Tim Burrows said the victim was walking east on the south side of Danforth Ave., on a green light around 11:30 a.m. when he was hit by a large eastbound dump truck that turned south onto Broadview Ave.

His crutches lay next to the body near a sidewalk curb outside a Pizza Pizza outlet.

As a reporter waited on a north sidewalk at the intersection in mid-afternoon, a woman clutching her young son’s hand crossed to the south side, where only a small police chalked cross marked where the pedestrian fell. A cyclist then pedalled north.

Both adults ignored the blinking red-hand-shaped no-crossing signals.

At mid-day, as police took measurements and photos, CALC student Max McGowan, 18, said too many pedestrians “cross when they’re not supposed to.”

CATC guidance counsellor Anita Sachanska said the victim enrolled last week for his next classes.

“I used to see him in the hallway,” she said, adding “he was very friendly ... he said hello to everybody.”

Program leader Ray Wolf said he was “cheerful, but had difficulty getting around” to lower hall classrooms and on nearby streets.

Principal Mike Rethazi said he “made an announcement to the students to be careful when they are out,” then held a staff meeting.

He didn’t know the man, “but we all felt pretty awful. It’s been very traumatic.”

This was the first such fatality at the school, which has more than 2,000 students, Rethazi said.

The school’s flag was lowered to half-mast.

The driver of the Gio Contracting Inc. truck stopped 80 metres south of the intersection, where vehicles were barred by police for about an hour.

This was the fifth pedestrian-vehicle fatality on city streets since Jan. 1, compared to two by the same time in 2009, Burrows said, adding 31 were killed last year.

Three other pedestrians were struck by vehicles in Toronto through the day, none fatally.

• A woman in her 30s hit on an Allen Expressway ramp at Lawrence Ave. around 7 a.m. had head injuries.

• A man stepping off a Bathurst streetcar at College St. had undisclosed minor injuries.

• A woman was clipped by the mirror of a car making a turn at Martin Grove Ave. and Steeles Ave.

“The biggest factor is human error by both pedestrians and drivers,” Burrows said. “And most of these cases seem to happen on days like this, clear skies, good visibility and dry roads.

“It’s everyone’s responsibility,” he said.

Burrows said streets “are only as safe as people choose.”

Investigators asked anyone with information to contact police at 416-808-1900 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.

ian.robertson@sunmedia.ca

Heads up, pedestrians

Nine fatalities in nine days

By MICHELE MANDEL, TORONTO SUN, Wednesday January 20, 2009

The numbers are shocking — nine pedestrians in the GTA killed in just nine days — and for many in this city, the grim reaper is obvious.

The terrible, evil car.

But as much as the anti-car lobby will not want to hear it, the ones at fault are just as often the pedestrians themselves.

No one wants to blame the victim, and no one would argue that the battle between a person and 1,000 kg of crushing metal is an even one. But that said, too many pedestrians strut about our streets as entitled or distracted or as aggressive as their similarly guilty counterparts behind the wheel.

Heads down, iPods in their ears, running for the bus or their streetcar, protected by their God-given right to step into live traffic while drivers screech to a halt.

Case in point: Wednesday’s early morning fatality in which a woman in her ’30s, dressed in dark clothing, attempted to cross Dufferin St., just south of Eglinton Ave. W., not at the lights but at a point where the driver in a blue minivan had no ability to see her until it was too late.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” says Toronto Police Const. Hugh Smith. By crossing mid-block, he adds, you’re “literally taking your life in your hands.”

Contrary to what most of us have always assumed, the traffic services officer says there is no law against jaywalking in Ontario. Instead, pedestrians are allowed to cross as long as the coast is clear.

But that doesn’t mean you can dart across the street and expect that oncoming traffic will be able to stop in time.

Jaywalkers, though, seem to think they can.

“In many cases, they feel they’re the pedestrians and cars have an obligation to stop for them and they can just go,” says Joanne Banfield, manager of trauma prevention programs at Sunnybrook hospital.

“That’s why one of our messages is, ‘You may have the right of way, but you may end up being dead right.’”

Together with the Toronto Area Safety Coalition, Sunnybrook launched iNavigait in October to promote better pedestrian safety awareness, with their motto: “Cross the street as if your life depends on it.”

Pedestrian injuries and fatalities spike with the shorter daylight hours between November and late February, with seniors being the most vulnerable, Banfield says. Last year, 19 of the 31 pedestrians killed in Toronto were over 65.

She advises pedestrians to be more visible by wearing brighter colours, make eye contact with drivers before crossing and always wait until the walking person icon appears on the signal before stepping off the curb.

“A lot of people are not paying attention as they’re crossing. They’re having conversations or they’re listening to music with ear buds in their ears or they’re texting or they’re looking for their bus,” Banfield says. “Pedestrians have to take responsibility for their actions as well.”

Run off his feet these last nine days, Const. Smith lays the blame for the recent carnage as much on pedestrians as he does on motorists. Of the four recent fatalities in Toronto, two involved errors made by those who were struck and killed: Wednesday’s jaywalking accident on Dufferin and on Jan. 12, an 80-year-old woman who died after crossing when drivers had the right of way at Dundas St. W. and Roncesvalles Ave.

As a longtime officer with traffic services, he’s seen the guilty on both sides: The distracted drivers who have mowed down pedestrians while barrelling through their right turns on red lights and pedestrians getting clipped as they tried bolting across live traffic lanes in a dangerous game of leapfrog. Each is in their own cocoon, equally oblivious to the other.

“There’s responsibility on both parts,” Smith says of drivers and pedestrians. “There’s complacency and poor choices on both sides. To me it’s totally equal.”

There is no magic bullet, he says. No easy solution. Instead, it’s about everyone stepping out of their respective bubbles and communicating like human beings again: being considerate, making eye contact, respecting each other.

“Unfortunately our society is in too much of a hurry and pedestrians and drivers aren’t paying attention,” agrees Banfield, who is also chairman of the Toronto Area Safety Coalition. “Society really needs to slow down.

Top 10 Pedestrian Collision Intersections

In an attempt to continue to raise awareness for pedestrian safety, here are the top 10 Toronto intersections where collisions have occurred as a result of vehicles making right turns making contact with pedestrians crossing with and without the right of way, resulting in serious injury.

1.) Bathurst St / Finch Ave W
2.) Birchmount Rd / Sheppard Ave E
3.) Bathurst St / King St W
4.) McCowan Rd / Sheppard Ave E
5.) Yonge St / Finch Ave E
6.) Sheppard Ave E / Parkway Forrest Dr
7.) Dundas St W / Spadina Ave
8.) Weston Rd / Finch Ave W
9.) Gerrard St E / Main St
10.) Bloor St W / Lansdowne Ave

A few tips for pedestrians to help protect yourself.
- Before stepping onto the road ensure that there is no traffic in the process of commencing a turn.
- Cross only with the right of way.
- Even if you have the right of way, try to get eye contact to ensure you are being seen.
- Continually asses your safety as you cross.
- Wear light coloured or reflective clothing.
- Cross the street as if your life depends on it.

A few tips for drivers to help protect pedestrians.
- When you do not have the right of way, come to a complete stop before turning.
- If you see a pedestrian near the corner, assume first that they will be crossing and proceed cautiously being ready to stop.
- Tap your horn to alert pedestrians to your presence.
- Never try to 'beat' a light or squeeze past a pedestrian.

Click here for more pedestrian safety information.
or go to
www.inavigait.com

Updated Toronto Road Fatality Board

Click the image to increase the size.

As you can see, the only two ares that Toronto Fatals have increased over 2008 are Automobile Passengers and Pedestrians as a percentage of the total.

Pedestrians represent almost 65% of the total of road deaths.

A few words of advice for all pedestrians:

Be Bright, Be Seen, Wait for the walking person to appear, Cross the street like your life depends on it.

Child Safety Tips

- Be aware of traffic signals, but never completely rely on them.
- Always ask for help in retrieving toys and/or pets which go out into the road to avoid risk of injury.
-Children should not play close to parked and/or moving vehicles.
- Children are small, unpredictable and have difficulties judging vehicle distances and speeds accurately.
- Crossing guards are there to assist pedestrians across the road, obey their signals
- Always use crosswalks to cross the road. Drivers are more likely to see you when you cross at designated crosswalks.
- Look all ways before crossing the street. Be alert and pay attention to on-coming traffic at all times.
- Make eye contact.
- Be bright. Wear bright colours or reflective clothing at night to make yourself more visible to drivers.
- Play in a safe place and keep away from parked cars. Drivers cannot see you in between cars.

Senior Safety Tips
- Be Watchful. Watch your step when getting on or off an escalator. And if your vision is impaired, take the elevator.
- Be Attentive. Use proper escalator posture -- stand at the center of the step facing forward, always holding the handrail. Watch out for loose clothing which may catch.
- Be Refreshed. Avoid leaning on the handrail or resting your foot on the escalator's side. If you're tired and feel unstable, use the elevator.
- Be Sensible. If you're holding too many packages, use the elevator. Anyone balancing packages can lose their balance. Your packages will fall and so might you.

- Be Wise. Escalators are for people on foot, unaided. People who need cane or walker assistance or those pushing a carriage or wheelchair should always use the elevator.
- Be Considerate. Quickly step away from an escalator at the end of your ride. Remember there are people behind you waiting to get off. They'll bump into you and possibly knock you down if there is no where else to go.

For more safety tips visit;

http://www.inavigait.com/

Pedestrian Safety

On Novemeber 1st, 2009 the clocks went back allowing us a well deserved extra hour of sleep. The return to Daylight Satandard Time is welcomed by many for different reasons...me, I like the sleep. But, there is a cost to a society...pedestrian collisions increase around this time of year.


Safety experts in North America recognize that starting around this time and continuing until February pedestrians are at a higher risk for being injured at the hands of motor vehicles. Those experts site the reduced afternoon daylight hours as a major cause of the increase in collisions.


Toronto Transportation data sites the time of the day most frequently to have collisions is the hour between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. That hour on the last work week day before Daylight Standard Time was daylight. On Novemebr 2nd, the next commuter day since the return will be much darker, with sunset happening at 4:45 p.m.


Pedestrians can take a few precautions to help themselves out to avoid becomming injured.


1.) Be bright about it
Wear light coloured clothing, reflective safety wear and pick appropriate spots to cross the street.


2.) Be seen
Don't walk from between parked cars or cross where there is poor lighting. Choose intersections and again, the use of light coloured clothing will help.


3.) Use your eyes before your feet
Get eye contact with drivers and cyclists. Look all directions beofre stepping into traffic flow routes and continue to look ensuring that each step can be followed safely by the next.


4.) Cross the street as if your life depends on it
Quite franklly, it does. The argument of 'right of way' is not a good one to be making from a hospital bed.






The Toronto Police Service is a proud partner with the Toronto Area Safety Coalition and together with Sunnybrook Hospital a new pedestrian safety awarness program has been launched. iNAVIGAIT has valuable information for all ages to and abilities. For more safety tips go to http://www.inavigait.com/