The City of Burnaby and the local RCMP are both making a big push to warn people about traffic dangers in our fair city.
I’ve seen plenty of social media posts with officers handing out reflective stickers so pedestrians and cyclists can “be seen” as things get darker with the time change.
That’s find, I guess, but I’d rather see more of a focus on warning drivers to slow down and watch out for people while out on the road.
Oh, and stop driving like a maniac while going through an intersection. That’s where so many Burnaby crashes take place – from drivers running red lights to others making risky left or right turns.
Look, the numbers don’t lie. I took a look at the most updated ICBC data on crashes at intersections and they are pretty scary.
The worst intersection for crashes by far is Boundary Road and Grandview Highway with 175 in 2020. Yes, 175 crashes out of 365 days.
This was followed by Highway 1 at Willingdon Avenue with 133 and Kensington at Highway 1 with 115. (OK, I’m not sure that these are exactly intersections – the data show crashes within a certain distance of these areas, but it’s still interesting to note where they occur.)
They were followed by Boundary Road and Kingsway with 100 crashes in 2020. This area is a real gong show even when it’s not rush hour. Close behind is Gaglardi Way and Cariboo Road (91) and Gaglardi and Lougheed (87).
And don’t forget the nightmare that is Canada Way, with plenty of crashes at Kensington (68), Edmonds (62) and Willingdon (57).
One thing to note about these numbers is that they are skewed by COVID-19. The pandemic has kept many Burnaby residents at home, especially during the first few months of severe restrictions.
When I looked at the 2019 numbers, Boundary and Grandview Highway had 32 more crashes (207) while Boundary and Kingsway had 162, compared with 100 in 2020. It was the same for all of the worst intersections.
So expect the 2021 numbers to be much higher as more people return to work and have ventured out more.
Meanwhile, the City of Vancouver has warned of a recent rise in collisions involving pedestrians in case anyone is travelling into the city soon.
The warning comes as rainy weather affects driver’s visibility, more people are commuting to the city and shortened daylight hours due to British Columbians turning their clocks back one hour to mark the end of Daylight Savings Time this weekend.
“Traffic collisions involving pedestrians increase significantly at this time of year – notably at intersections,” says Paul Storer, Director of Transportation. “We saw a decrease in collisions involving pedestrians in 2020 but we are seeing an increase this year, including fatalities, as more people are returning to their regular activities.”
The city states collisions involving pedestrians are more frequent between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and during hours of darkness in winter months. Pedestrians are involved in less than two per cent of all traffic collisions, yet account for 60 per cent of all traffic fatalities in Vancouver.
Nearly 80 per cent of those collisions occur at intersections.
- With additional reporting by Cameron Thomson, Vancouver is awesome
