A road safety survey conducted in Burns Lake by the Northern Brain Injury Association found that 83 per cent of cyclists and 40 per cent of pedestrians engage in dangerous behaviour.
The road safety survey, funded in part by Northern Health, had the goal to reveal the actual number of people in communities whose actions put themselves and others at extreme risk of injury or death.
This year, five communities were surveyed including Burns Lake, Terrace, Quesnel, Mackenzie and Prince George.
In Burns Lake, 6,066 drivers were observed. While 5654 drivers committed no infractions, 102 were not wearing seat belts. Additionally, 242 drivers failed to obey to provincial motor vehicles laws including the improper use of turn signals, failing to stop, exceeding speed restrictions, passing vehicles illegally and tailgating. Also, 12 vehicles had an unsecured child in the vehicle (with lack of proper restraints), and 56 drivers were reported driving while distracted (engaging in other activities).
The statistics for cyclists were a bit more dramatic. Out the 48 cyclists observed during the survey, 83 per cent were not riding their bikes safely. Among the infractions, 17 cyclists rode without wearing a helmet; five failed to stop at stop signs; and 18 riders broke provincial and municipal laws by not walking cycles through intersections, riding on sidewalks or against the traffic.
Pedestrians were also observed during the survey. Out of 170 pedestrians observed, 103 did not commit an infraction. However, 57 people preferred to jaywalk instead of properly crossing a roadway, and seven did not use crosswalks in the proper way by cutting corners to enter or exit the crosswalk, crossing on a red or yellow light or walking out into traffic before they have come to a stop. Additionally, one person did not bother to look in both directions before proceeding into the path of oncoming traffic, and two pedestrians allowed themselves to be distracted by an activity while crossing a roadway.
According to the Northern Brain Injury Association, the number of persons being injured as the result of unsafe operation, especially those due to distracted behaviours, continues to grow every year. In fact, distracted behaviour injury and death rates have now surpassed those attributed to drinking and driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, making distracted behaviours the number one preventable cause of motor vehicular injury and death in Canada.
The surveys were conducted at high traffic locations for one hour segments twice a day, over a three day period – including two days during the week and one day on a weekend – for one hour in the morning and one hour in the late afternoon. The surveys involved two personnel positioned to observe opposing flows of traffic in late August and early September of 2014.
