Surrey Mounties say 290 pedestrians were struck in Surrey last year, 19 people were killed in traffic crashes and 20 more were seriously injured.
This past month, there was a traffic death or serious injury every week.
“Police enforcement alone cannot make Surrey’s roadways safer,” said Sergeant Ian MacLellan, of Surrey RCMP Traffic Services. “We urge our roadway users to follow the rules of the road and to understand that by doing so, they will prevent motor vehicle collision deaths and serious injuries in Surrey.”
Map of traffic fatalities on Surrey roads in 2018. (Vision Zero Surrey image)
Police have released the 10 worst intersections for crashes over the past three years.
The worst is 128th Street and 96th Avenue, with 24 crashes, followed by 96th Avenue and King George Boulevard and 104th Avenue and King George (18 crashes each), 64th Avenue and King George (17), 176th Street and Fraser Highway and 128th Street and 72nd Avenue (16 crashes each), 72nd Avenue and King George (15), 68th Avenue and King George and 128th Street and 80th Avenue ( 14 each), and 88th Avenue and King George with 13 crashes.
Corporal Elenore Sturko noted that these numbers only include crashes that were investigated by the Surrey RCMP and happened right at the intersections.
“In reality the number of collisions is much greater,” she said. “It could have been a block ahead and not included by us.”
That 290 pedestrian crashes figure, sadly, is not atypical.
“It’s on par with what we’ve seen over the past couple of years,” Sturko said.
Not all were serious injuries, nor with drivers to blame. Some crashes involved “inattentive pedestrian behaviour” like jaywalking, she noted.
SEE VIDEO: Surrey Mounties launch pedestrian safety campaign
READ ALSO: Federal government seeks public feedback on pedestrian safety
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