A pedestrian safety advocate says dangerously high speed limits are to blame for the spate of four pedestrian deaths that occurred in a 24-hour period between Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

“The speed limits on the most dangerous roads are not getting changed,” said Dylan Reid, co-founder of Walk Toronto.

Four pedestrians were killed in Scarborough on roads with speed limits of 50 kilometres per hour or higher.

The first two to be struck and killed were a woman and her 5-year-old daughter Wednesday night. Hours later, a 56-year-old man was pinned under a vehicle and pronounced dead on the scene. Thursday night, a 71-year-old man was struck and killed.

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The 34-year-old woman and her daughter died after running across a road at Warden Ave. and Continental Pl., near Ellesmere Rd. The father and another child, 2, crossed the street safely while the mother and daughter were struck. The speed limit on the road was 60 km/h.

The 56-year-old man died Thursday on Birchmount Rd., south of St. Clair Ave. E., which has a speed limit of 50 km/h. Another man died on McCowan Rd., south of Steeles Ave. E., which has a speed limit of 60 km/h.

“There are more deaths on the roads where the speed limits are higher,” said Reid. “It just speaks to the need to reduce speeds in Toronto as a whole because people are at risk in all different parts of the city.”

Warden Ave. and Continental Pl., where the first two victims died, is described by locals as the most dangerous stretch of road in Scarborough. Traffic zips by and the two closest traffic lights are roughly a four-minute walk away from the spot where the mother and daughter crossed.

“The safe crossing points are very few and far between,” said Reid. “You have to walk a long distance to get to a safe crossing spot and that makes it more likely that people are going to try to cross where there isn’t a safe crossing spot.”

All three locations where the deaths occurred are being reviewed by the city’s transportation services division, said Marko Oinonen, manager of traffic operations for the Scarborough district.

“This would be to see if the transportation infrastructure was in good order, but also to determine if there are any enhancements that might benefit the areas,” said Oinonen.

The World Health Organization states that pedestrians have a 90-per-cent chance of survival when struck by a car travelling at 30 km/h or below, while the chance of survival is half when struck by a vehicle going 45 km/h.

A 2015 staff report by the city of Toronto stated that the majority, about 90 per cent, of the collisions resulting in pedestrian deaths occur on roads with posted speeds of 50 and 60 km/h.

The city adopted a five-year road safety plan in 2017 with an aim to reduce the number of road fatalities and serious injuries to zero. They named it after Vision Zero — an international movement designing roads and traffic systems to save lives, even if it inconveniences drivers.

Toronto’s plan fails to adopt a citywide, universal approach that could prevent occurrences like the ones in Scarborough, said Reid.

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“The city is lowering some speed limits,” said Reid. “But the city is reluctant to lower speed limits on the fastest roads where the biggest danger lies because that would create stronger reaction from drivers.”

In Sweden, where Vision Zero originated, the speed limit does not exceed 30 km/h on roads where there is a mixture of cars and pedestrians. The program is credited with reducing traffic fatalities in cities by nearly 40 per cent.

“Toronto’s Vision Zero plan isn’t really a Vision Zero plan,” said Reid. “It’s a fairly modest road and safety plan that is specific to certain areas of the city.”