There was a total of 64 vehicle collisions in Saanich that involved a pedestrian in 2018, according to the draft version of the municipality’s 2018 annual report.
This figure marked an upturn from the previous year when there were 46 collisions. In 2016, the figure was 59.
The 64 collisions includes one fatality, according to Sgt. Julie Fast of the Saanich Police, a two-year-old girl. She died in hospital after being struck by minivan driven by her dad in July 2018.
The issue of vehicle collisions involving pedestrians has gained prominence in recent years, as individual Saanich residents, as well as neighbourhood organizations, have asked for improvements to sidewalks, signage and speed restrictions, following incidents like the collision in late 2017 that left Leila Bui unresponsive after being struck by a vehicle on Saanich Road.
Putting up our homemade signs today. Hey #Saanich we want #30kmspeedlimits for #trafficsafety to keep our kids safe. Or, you could just give us sidewalks 😉 pic.twitter.com/vg6CgFiAl3
— Elise Cote Velazquez (@EliseVelaz9) May 21, 2019
My #saanich street has no sidewalk and is pretty unsafe. Today, we took a first step towards making it a better place for the many kids who live here #streetsigns #RoadSafety #bcpoli #activetransportation #ClimateActionNow pic.twitter.com/T3oZYLpoge
— Elise Cote Velazquez (@EliseVelaz9) May 4, 2019
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Earlier this year, a 62-year-old Gordon Head resident died after a minivan travelling southbound on Tyndall struck her while she was crossing the road.
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A report notes that overall resident perceptions of road safety have worsened in 2019, as the share of residents who rate roads to be “safe” and “very safe” has dropped five per cent from the last survey conducted in 2015.
According to the Saanich Citizen Survey, 86 per cent of respondents said they either feel “safe” (57 per cent) or “very safe” (29 per cent) when using Saanich roads. Fourteen per cent said they feel “unsafe” (13 per cent) or “very unsafe” (one per cent).
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