Last week, an attack by “aggressive” geese at Sullivan’s Pond in Dartmouth put an 87-year-old lady in hospital. It was a serious incident, which resulted in a plan and swift action.

A fearless crew from Hope for Wildlife rounded the geese up and transported them to their winter home. Danger mitigated, successfully.

Oddly, we don’t react the same way when cyclists and pedestrians are hit on our dangerous roads and crosswalks. I’m not suggesting we round up drivers and ship them to some place where they can race around well over the speed limit without causing harm to others. But clearly some kind of action and a plan is required.

Walking and cycling is constantly a tragic news story in Halifax. There have been many instances of pedestrians being hit, usually in a crosswalk, as well as many serious incidents involving cyclists. And our eight pedestrian fatalities since January 2018 isn’t just a problem, it’s a road safety crisis.

According to local myth, pedestrians and cyclists are hit as often as raccoons because we act like traffic laws don’t apply to us, walk right out in front of cars, and don’t wait for traffic to stop before we cross the road. This is perhaps why we haven’t done more to make our crosswalks safe by design, or provide bike lanes on roads that have ample room for them. Because as I often hear: “you can’t fix stupid,” “we have the worst pedestrians/cyclists in the world,” and “making crosswalks safe will just give pedestrians a false sense of security.”

Anyone who walks or cycles daily in Halifax will understand the issues differently. Many of our crosswalks are extremely wide, spanning multiple lanes of traffic. I can start off safely with a driver stopped in lane one, but be in trouble by the time I get to lanes three, four or five.

Earlier this year, I crossed on camera for CTV right in front of a driver who had stopped to look up at the flashing overhead lights. She didn’t seem to notice they were activated and suddenly drove off not seeing me crossing right by her. This kind of thing happens multiple times a day to those who rely on walking to get about.

Cities should be places where pedestrians and cyclists are queens and kings of the road; in command of their environment and prioritized when it comes to infrastructure choices. Their needs should come first because together, they should make up the majority of travellers. They should be a priority because it is far cheaper and easier to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists in cities than cars, which need much more space, cause many more serious incidents and contribute more to harmful levels of air pollution. Without the need to accommodate many cars, there’s much more space available for streets to become great places to hang out and shop, and it would ease traffic congestion, for those who rely on sustainable transit and walking and cycling to get to work.

I say “should” because our urban roads are often not enjoyable or safe places to cycle and walk, nor do cyclists and pedestrians make up the majority of road users. Many roads are straight and wide, encouraging drivers to speed. Our road infrastructure is deliberately designed to shift large volumes of predominantly car traffic and offers up little protection or space for vulnerable road users. If you walk or cycle here you’re actually a risk-taker, a committed stunt person. But that may not be by choice if you’re too young or old to drive, if you have a mental or physical disability that prevents you from driving, or if you can’t afford a car.

What’s most disturbing is the lack of progress we’ve made in addressing our unsafe streets. Is education and enforcement the cure? Obviously not as we’ve had both of those happening for some time without any determinable impact. Drivers are often charged following incidents where pedestrians or cyclists are hit and sometimes even the victims themselves are charged, and the incidents are widely read and commented on. Yet the same thing often happens again, just a few hours later.

Recently, I presented a short film about the hazards of turning traffic for pedestrians at the Robie and Spring Garden signalized intersection. Just a few hours after the film was released on Oct. 23, a 35-year-old pedestrian was hit by a turning driver at the very same intersection. According to Halifax Regional Police, the pedestrian was in a marked crosswalk at the time of the incident. And last week, a teen was hit at the very same signalized intersection in Lower Sackville where a teen was also hit at the end of August.

A look at Halifax Regional Municipality’s pedestrian incident map and statistics reveals some disturbing trends. Incidents often happen at intersections and on wider arterial roads, which concede little to pedestrian safety. According to a report compiled by HRM traffic staff, our signalized intersections were the location of approximately 40 per cent of all pedestrians hit in HRM from 2012 to 2017. That’s nearly five times the number of pedestrians hit at our next most dangerous crosswalk location type over the same period — the “RA-5” crosswalk with overhead amber flashing lights.

What has been done about this epidemic of vulnerable road user incidents? In 10 locations, we got a head start on turning traffic of a few seconds. This hasn’t worked. Pedestrians have continued to get hit at these locations, including two students who were crossing legally and hit by a left turning taxi at South Park and Spring Garden Rd., according to Halifax police. We are awaiting a minimum safe network for cyclists, which will be welcome, however when cyclists inevitably stray off this network to start and complete their journeys, they will face the same issues, particularly at our wide and dangerous intersections.

Is there any good news? The fundamental requirements of walk and cycle friendly roads are already waiting for us to enjoy. Many great sidewalks, short distances, masses of urban nature, considerate drivers and great weather. Yes, I said considerate drivers and great weather.

This isn’t a complex issue. The fixes are straightforward and often involve inexpensive adaptations, not complete redesigns: make crosswalks safer using tried and tested control methods such as Rapid Flashing Beacons and pedestrian refuge islands. Reduce traffic lane and crosswalk widths. Slow traffic and create protection by adding bike lanes to our wide roads. Make sure vulnerable road users are not forgotten at intersections where most incidents happen. Stop all traffic with a red light while pedestrians cross and eliminate right turns on red lights. Ensure cyclists can use intersections safely with measures to reduce the speed of turning traffic, and advance boxes for cyclists to get a head start on traffic.

The evidence supporting the enormous increase in walking and cycling (and consequently reduced car use) that flows from these measures is out there.

So why do we continue to watch vulnerable road users getting knocked over left right and centre without fixing the root causes? We need communities which are safe to walk and cycle so we can reduce congestion and increase the use of transit. The idea that we will make traffic worse by prioritizing safety for vulnerable road users is just that, an idea without evidence.

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Immigrants like myself from Europe, Asia and South America who are used to people-focused cities will continue to ask why the needs of pedestrians and cyclists are always secondary to car traffic.

Forget geese, we need to take a gander at roads, which serve well enough as racetracks, but are hopeless at moving people and giving vulnerable road users vital protection from traffic.

Martyn Williams is a safe streets advocate who lives in Halifax. He describes himself as a British family man with a lifelong passion for walking, cycling and natural beauty.

The Star Halifax invited local people to step in as guest editors each Friday and have their say on an issue that’s important to them. Next week, Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union President Jason MacLean on how Premier Stephen McNeil has created an “us versus them” mentality between his government and unions that is neither respectful nor productive. Read the full guest editor series here

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