Creating Safer Streets for All: The Urgent Need for Effective Road Safety Measures
July 30 2024
Bike lanes have become a hotly debated issue in our community. As congestion in the entire city continues to frustrate residents on all sides of the argument, it's clear that the design of our streets can be contentious. However, beyond the debates and disagreements, there is an undeniable and urgent reality: too many vulnerable road users are dying.
Tragically, even those using designated crosswalks and bike lanes are not automatically safe from potential injury or worse. In the last two weeks we lost a pregnant mother crossing at a proper spot and then just days later, a 24-year-old woman. The latter was riding in a proper bike lane on Bloor Street near Avenue Road. A construction site had placed a large dumpster in the lane. Forced to swerve, she was struck and killed by a truck driver. This is just the latest but so far in 2024, 12 Pedestrians and 5 cyclist have died on our roads. Vision Zero was set up to reduce serious traffic injuries and deaths to 0, today we are on the wrong trajectory, these stats are going up. We also don’t know how many people today are suffering from life altering injuries but this too adds to the list of victims.
These incidents highlight a significant issue: while we have the infrastructure and rules intended to protect all road users, they are not being followed or enforced effectively. Daily, I personally witness drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks. My neighbours are always discussing the dangers of just crossing our own street, this is not acceptable, as residents of a major city we should expect better! This blatant disregard for the rules begs the question: what will it take to ensure compliance?
A bike lane is just one part of a complete street and complete streets are designed for everyone. However, when streets are made safer, it doesn't work if construction zones do not account for those on foot or on bikes. Safety measures must be comprehensive and consistent. They do not work if a drivers speed and utter disregard for others is becoming the norm and if you ask most people in the city including every driver I know, this reckless behavior just becoming the norm. We all see it and we need all levels of government to get involved! The time for pretending its someone else’s problem is behind us because too many lives are being ruined!
This is not a time to argue, in reality, at some point or other, most of us are pedestrians if even just talking a short walk up and down our own street, this makes you a vulnerable road user. Our children are even more often than adults vulnerable road users, from the time they start going out with friends or on their own, they are crossing streets. If you don't want to see changes for yourself, wouldn't it be nice to see safe crossings for them? Walking to school or to a friend's house should be a normal part of life, not something we as parents fear.
It's time for our community to come together and demand safer streets for everyone. We must prioritize the enforcement of existing rules and consider additional measures to protect our most vulnerable road users. Only then can we prevent further tragedies and create a city where everyone feels safe to walk, cycle, and drive.
The time to speak out to city officials is now and if you love even just one child, do it for them! Change takes time but you need to demand the actions or nothing will get better and what does a lack of action say to the next generation?