Pedestrian safety blitz comes days after elderly man killed in Markham

With daylight hours getting shorter, pedestrians are more at risk

Yorkregion.com
November 15, 2018
Lisa Queen

Like many people, Khash Zarekwizi often uses his phone and listens to music as he’s walking.

He routinely disregards the push-to-walk safety button at intersections and has been known to jaywalk rather than cross at an intersection at all.

The dangers of his bad habits were brought to his attention by York Regional Police and York Region officials at the launch of a safety campaign at the intersection of Yonge and Wellington streets in Aurora.

“When you know about it, when you know people are actually getting hit, when the police tell you these things happen, you actually want to be more safe wandering around,” the Newmarket resident said.

The campaign began two days after the clocks were turned back to standard time and as daylight hours get shorter to urge pedestrians and drivers to be more aware of road safety. It also launched less than three weeks after an 84-year-old man was struck and killed while crossing the road at Winterberry and Rouge Bank drives in Markham on Oct. 18 at about 6 a.m.

Reflective sidewalk decals carrying messages such as “Be visible, be seen,” “Press button to cross,” “Make eye contact with drivers” and “Stand back from the road” have been placed at one intersection in each of the region’s nine municipalities.

“We want people to be visible, we want drivers to pay special attention at intersections and we want everyone to get home safely every day,” Joseph Petrungaro, the region’s director of roads and traffic operations, said.

“One collision is too much in our eyes. The message is critical for everyone. When we hear of incidents when pedestrians or cyclists are hit by vehicles, the rate of injury is quite high because they’re more vulnerable.”

Last year, 147 pedestrians and 96 cyclists were struck by vehicles on regional roads, which doesn’t include collisions on local roads, Petrungaro said.

In 2016, 174 pedestrians and 115 cyclists were hit by vehicles on regional roads.

Three pedestrians and one cyclist were killed on regional roads in 2016 and five pedestrians killed on regional roads in 2017, Petrungaro said.

This past spring, two cyclists, including 20-year-old Daunte Thompson-Bruce of Stouffville, were killed on York Region roads in three weeks.

Police have issued safety tips for pedestrians and drivers.

Pedestrians are urged to wear bright clothing and reflective strips in dusk or darkness, walk on sidewalks and cross at intersections, remove distractions such as headphones and ear buds and make eye contact with drivers before crossing the road.

Drivers should put away distractions, make sure their headlights are on and in good working order, drive defensively and courteously and give themselves ample time to get to their destinations.

“What we’ve found is that there are a lot of pedestrians that are distracted, using their phones while they’re commuting,” said Sgt. Karen Hodge with York Regional Police’s road safety bureau.

“We thought, with these decals, hopefully it will reach home and get some attention and get people to really take their safety seriously while they are commuting around York Region.”