It doesn’t matter that you die, only how you die. If, for example, 22 seniors were murdered on the streets of the GTA during a single year, there would be outrage across the land.

But when that many pedestrian seniors are killed by cars, as was the case in 2013, we wring our hands and carry on.

In fact, there were more traffic fatalities in Toronto in 2013 (63, two-thirds of them pedestrians) as there were homicides (57), according to Toronto police.

One form of death is considered accidental and, therefore, no one’s fault. Homicide, on the other hand, is a crime and blame must be apportioned.

But given what we know about why so many pedestrians are hurt by cars — in addition to dozens of deaths, another 2,000 or so pedestrians are injured annually on the streets of Toronto — such distinctions are not as clear as we like to believe.

Though other cities have reduced the carnage, Toronto has not. (Three pedestrians were killed in a single day on Toronto streets last week.) In Vancouver, which prioritizes walking and cycling, only six pedestrians were killed by cars last year. That was down from 10 the year before.

But even there, seniors bear the brunt of the violence. During one 11-day period, no fewer than five seniors died at the hands of drivers.

The reasons are always the same. Most damage is done by drivers turning left (25 per cent) or turning right (17 per cent) even when pedestrians have the right of way, studies have shown. Another 12 per cent were pedestrians crossing mid-block without traffic lights. Not surprisingly, most pedestrian deaths occur at night.

Also revealing is the fact that 67 per cent of these deaths were caused by male drivers. More disturbing still, 36 per cent of dead pedestrians were killed by drivers who had previously committed a traffic violation.

But perhaps the single most critical factor is speed; nearly 70 per cent of fatalities happened on roads with speed limits above 50 km/h. when Toronto’s Chief Medical Officer suggested lowering those limits several years ago, then-mayor Rob Ford and public works committee chair, Denzil Minnan-Wong ridiculed him while dismissing his proposal out of hand.

As ignorant as these voices of car culture most assuredly are, such attitudes persist in Toronto even under the new civic regime of Mayor John Tory. The decision to close the scramble at Bloor and Bay — one of a paltry three in the whole city — without any talk of other intersections that need them is revealing of a mindset that sees pedestrians as obstacles that must be kept out of the way for their own good — and also because they slow traffic.

In addition to being embarrassingly antediluvian, this sort of approach is also highly dangerous. Over the years, hundreds have been horrifically killed so that drivers don’t have to slow down on the streets they consider their own. And yet, every kilometre we cut from speed limits means fewer fatalities.

We also need to narrow roads and the intersections where most accidents occur. After all, it’s less busy downtown roads where pedestrians are hit than multi-lane arteries such as Steeles, Finch and Eglinton.

Police treat pedestrians as naughty children. Generally the best they can come up with is to suggest that pedestrians wear brightly-coloured clothing.

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But until the city looks at speed limits, street conditions, traffic lights and the like, it can’t claim even to take the issue seriously. By refusing to do that, the city is saying that these deaths are simply another sacrifice we must make for the sake of our cars.