Dear Editor:
Regarding your April 3 story, Jaywalking Girl Hit by Car.
To me it seemed quite insensitive. As a parent, I wonder how her parents would feel about the blame being cast on this girl after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, which by the way is a criminal offence. A couple of times it is mentioned that jaywalking is dangerous with the clear message that this was her fault.
The (RCMP) comment that "However it is possible he may not even know he hit someone" scares the hell out of me. To think that we have drivers on the road that don't see pedestrians and then supposedly don't even realize they ran over them is insane. These comments are unfortunately the norm in reporting pedestrian and cycling injuries/deaths. There always seems to be a comment like, "they were wearing dark clothing," "it was raining," "they were crossing at an unmarked crosswalk."
In my opinion, if you are driving two tonnes of metal around a neighbourhood you had better do so with the utmost care which obviously was not the case and I suggest that in the future you may want to take such a tack.
Many European cities that place much more emphasis on pedestrian safety have legalized "jaywalking" because it is actually safer than crossing at intersections. In B.C., the number 1 location for pedestrian injuries and fatalities is at lighted intersections with a marked crosswalk, the comment by the RCMP spokesman that "the incident underscores how dangerous it is to jaywalk" is simply incorrect. The reason jaywalking is illegal in B.C. largely stems from the fact that our road rules are based on the Motor Vehicle Act which was designed for the "safe and efficient movement of motor vehicles," and has no basis for protecting pedestrians. ICBC has good statistics on this.
I hope you will see this as constructive criticism and that it will affect future reporting on such unfortunate incidents. Cars are the number 1 reason for premature deaths in Canada, and much of it stems from our cavalier attitude towards driving.
Rob Wynen Vancouver
