Friday, 26 April 2024

Crosswalk safety

Eight pedestrians hit by traffic in 24 hours – Halifax roads should not be about survival of the fittest and fastest

Martyn Williams continues his common sense campaign to increase safety for pedestrians, wheelchair users and cyclists. “Road users need infrastructure which does not let them down and allows them to complete their journeys safely and without injury to themselves and others. With the rate of incidents we have on our roads per day, we need the budget and will to make that happen now.”

What matters more, traffic flow or human lives?

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We have seen seven accidents where cars hit pedestrians since last Friday, two of those incidents happened on well-mrked crosswalks. “How important is making sure pedestrians are fully protected at crosswalks versus the need for traffic flow? My view is that improving or maintaining traffic flow at any location is not worth a single life-affecting injury or death. When a friend or family member is hit and is injured, that priority becomes very clear,” writes Martyn Williams.

Long story short: Stalemate on slower speeds between Halifax and Province is killing us

Lower speed limits, although not a panacea, mean fewer accidents, and fewer pedestrian deaths. Both City and Province agree that lowering speeds is a positive move, yet a standoff about jurisdictional authority is stopping implementation. “Not at all satisfactory for parents who need to head off to work before their children walk to school alone, or for the pedestrians regularly hit on our crosswalks,” writes Martyn Williams

We can do better than Nova Scotia’s No Frills crosswalks

Safe streets activist Martyn Williams takes a closer look at the flawed and dangerous crosswalks in Halifax and elsewhere in the province. Crosswalks here have many inherent dangers – wide four or even five lane crosswalks with high overhead lights which are sometimes not seen by drivers, signalized intersections where traffic has a green light to turn left into the road which has the walk sign on, right turns on a red, and crosswalks which have overhead lit signs but no flashing lights. It doesn’t have to be this way.