Health and safety advocates on B.C.'s North Shore are arguing that speed limits in the region should be lowered to 30 km/h order to protect cyclists and pedestrians — and help with traffic in the area.

On Thursday, the North Shore Safety Council is holding a public forum to discuss the idea of lowering the 50 km/h limit in neighbourhoods.

Dr. Mark Lysyshyn, the region's medical health officer and scheduled keynote speaker, said speed limits can be a matter of life and death.

He cited a 2016 report from B.C.'s provincial health officer, which said pedestrians and cyclists only had a 20 per cent chance of surviving a collision with a car travelling at 50 km/h.

If the limit was 30 km/h, the survival rate was 90 per cent.​

"By changing the speed, you protect what we call vulnerable road users: those who aren't protected by a metal sheet around them," Lysyshyn said.

The doctor acknowledged traffic on the North Shore is already prone to congestion but said commuters ought to be thinking safety first anyway.

"[Drivers] don't want to hear they have to slow down any further, but if you think of this from even an ethical point of view, it's just not acceptable that in order to get places faster, people need to die."

The Second Narrows Bridge connects the North Shore and the City of Vancouver and is often subject to traffic jams. (Christer Waara/CBC)

Lysyshyn said he doesn't think a lower speed limit will affect drivers' travel times, because safer roads encourage more people to walk or cycle instead — resulting in fewer cars on the road.

Over the past five years, B.C. has seen an average of 1,400 accidents involving cyclists. Most involve cars and more than 100 happened in North Vancouver, according to ICBC.​

In response to last year's provincial report on the issue, B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone said lowering speed limits would require a "tremendous" amount of participation from municipal governments in order to move forward.

With files from The Canadian Press