Editor:
Re: Pedestrian killed, driver flees scene, May 20; Driver seen running from deadly crash scene, May 6.
The accidents that have recently claimed the lives of two local women – one a pedestrian – are not simply cases of bad luck.
Approximately 400 people are killed each year in road accidents in B.C., and 25,000 are injured. The figures for all of Canada are about 3,000 killed and 200,000 injured yearly. The figures for Canada and the U.S. together are 45,000 killed and 3,000,000 injured yearly.
This is a wartime situation. Yet, there is no way to end it without regulation of the car industry and development of transportation alternatives. There are too many cars on the road, they are built to go too fast and stylistic innovations trump safety concerns.
Drivers are another aspect of the problem. They have seen too many car ads – some are 90 minutes long and call themselves movies – which portray driving as an occasion to have fun and show off. Apparently a high-speed escape from the scene of an accident, to avoid responsibility, is now part of the game.
Though police enforcement of traffic laws could be stepped up, it will not be enough. Consideration should be given to ending licensing of minors, raising the standards required for licences and requiring an accident-simulation course. And licences of delinquent drivers should be revoked more frequently – in some cases for life.
I would like to give a pedestrian’s perspective about crossing at intersections. Intersections are set up primarily to maximize traffic flow and only secondarily for safety. A crosswalk puts pedestrians on the defensive a few seconds after the light changes to green, by flashing “Don’t Walk” during what remains of their right-of-way. This message is not lost on impatient drivers.
It is also not particularly safe for pedestrians to proceed on the “Walk” sign immediately after the light changes. Drivers going straight or turning left routinely speed through a light after it has changed to red for them, and drivers turning right may be entering a crosswalk as pedestrians are starting to cross.
To be effective, measures to end the war on our roads will ultimately have to lower the amount of car use.
The costs of business as usual have been kept hidden for too long.
David Anson, White Rock
