The life of a 21-year-old Vancouver pedestrian was cut short following a collision on Lynn Valley Road last week. We don’t know exactly what happened that night and we might not ever know. But we are certain her death was preventable.
ICBC and the RCMP often preach pedestrian safety this time of year, asking people on foot to make themselves more visible and make eye contact with drivers before stepping into a crosswalk. It’s not bad advice but we’d argue the burden of safety needs to be spread more widely, especially when you consider that pedestrians usually have right of way but are the ones most likely to be killed or injured.
There is a growing movement dubbed Vision Zero in cities around the world to reduce the number of traffic fatalities and series injuries to zero through enforcement, education and engineering of our streets, the last one being the most effective.
Lowering our driving speed would not only prevent many collisions from happening, it would also make it more likely the victim will survive. Our older streetlamps cast less light than birthday candles. And it’s frankly stunning the number of streets in our community without sidewalks.
It’s time for a shift in our culture’s way of thinking about streets.
The City of North Vancouver has already passed a motion to explore becoming a Vision Zero city and the District of North Van will be looking into it as part of their larger transportation plan.
When it comes to these safety initiatives, we encourage all three local governments to step on it. No one else should die for crossing the street.
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