City launches road safety program: Aim to reduce preventable road collisions, injuries and fatalities

The City of Vancouver today launched People are Fragile, a new safety awareness program to raise the profile of some common yet inconsiderate, risky and illegal behaviours that can cause serious harm to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

The program is designed to raise awareness about road safety and ultimately prevent collisions, injuries and fatalities for all road users. The program, which uses outdoor advertising, sidewalk writing, social media and other tactics, addresses three key behaviours in and around intersections that put people at risk:

• pedestrians jaywalking;
• cyclists running stop signs; and,
• motorists failing to yield to pedestrians in both marked and unmarked crosswalks.

The City intends to continuously improve the safety of Vancouver’s streets, particularly around intersections where the majority of conflicts occur between pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles.

The People are Fragile program builds on many City-led initiatives that have made our streets safer and more enjoyable for all users. Recent steps to make Vancouver streets safer include implementing pedestrian countdown timers at high-risk intersections, separated bike lanes on major cycling routes, and installing 43 new intersection safety cameras.

“While we’ve made many changes to improve the safety of our streets, we need to do more. Even one fatality is too many,” says Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. “We urge all Vancouverites to remember that people are fragile and we all need to practice courtesy, be aware of our surroundings, and follow the rules of the road, especially around intersections. The responsibility for safer streets belongs to everyone.”

Every day, inconsiderate, risky and illegal behaviour continues to contribute to unsafe situations on city streets. According to the Vancouver Police Department’s 2006-2011 collision data, an average of 18 road users are killed in traffic collisions each year in Vancouver. Of those fatalities, 56 per cent occur at intersections.

“These dangerous behaviours can have tragic but often totally preventable consequences, especially for pedestrians who are the most vulnerable and most at risk of being injured and killed,” said Staff Sergeant Earl Andersen with the Vancouver Police Department Traffic Section.

According to the Vancouver Police Department’s 2006-2011 collision data, 61 pedestrians were killed in collisions:

• 13 were jaywalking;
• 21 were struck by drivers not yielding at intersections; and,
• the remaining 27 fatalities resulted from a combination of pedestrian and driver error, confusion and inattention, and poor weather.

In addition, during the same period, five cyclists, 19 drivers, 11 passengers and 12 motorcyclists were killed in collisions.

“The City of Vancouver’s People Are Fragile program complements the awareness-building that ICBC does every year through our road safety campaigns,” said ICBC’s Director of Road Safety Fiona Temple. “Each one of us can play an active role by making smart decisions ― whether we’re driving, cycling or walking. Be alert, safe and use caution.”

“Every day, our health professionals treat largely preventable injuries from motor vehicle collisions. We support the People are Fragile program and other City-led initiatives aimed not only at preventing injury and death, but also at helping Vancouver become a healthier city,” said Dr. Patricia Daly, Vancouver Coastal Health Chief Medical Health Officer.

People are fragile, they are not invincible. Don’t let inconsiderate, risky, and illegal behaviour in the roadway put yourself and others at risk. Always yield to pedestrians at intersections, stop at stop signs, and cross at intersections.

To learn more about what you can do to be safe on city streets, visit the People are Fragile website www.practiceroadsafety.ca

Editor’s note: Video of the three target behaviours can be downloaded on the City’s YouTube channel or by contacting the City’s media line at the contacts below. A detailed statistical backgrounder is available online in City’s media room: vancouver.ca.

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Media Contacts:
City of Vancouver
Corporate Communications
604.871.6336
media@vancouver.ca

Vancouver Police Department
Constable Lindsey Houghton, Media Relations Officer
Community & Public Affairs Section
604.717.3679
lindsey.houghton@vpd.ca

ICBC
Kim Thé, Senior Communications Specialist
604.296.1539
kim.the@icbc.com

Vancouver Coastal Health
Trudi Beutel, Public Affairs Officer
604.708.5282
trudi.beutel@vch.ca

The Vancouver Public Space Network (VPSN) will celebrate PARK(ing) Day in Vancouver by reclaiming parking spaces at the corner of 8th Avenue and Cambie Street between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. VPSN volunteers will set up an urban ‘rec room’, offering passersby the chance to read a book, play games, and hang out with friends while thinking about how public space is allocated.

“There are more than 7,500 metered parking spaces in Vancouver, which take up a significant amount of space,” said the VPSN’s Simon Wong. “By reclaiming some of these spaces, we hope to challenge people to re-imagine the possibilities of the urban landscape.”

Community librarian Sarah Green from the Vancouver Public Library’s Mount Pleasant branch will stop by from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. to drop off coffee table books, sign up new members, and discuss user accounts.

Originally invented in 2005 by ReBar, a San Francisco-based art and design studio, PARK(ing) Day challenges people to rethink the way streets are used and reinforces the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure.

Since 2005, the project has blossomed into a worldwide grassroots movement: PARK(ing) Day 2010 included more than 800 installations in more than 180 cities in 30 countries on six continents. This year, the project continues to expand to urban centers across the globe.

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About the Vancouver Public Space Network:
The VPSN is a grassroots collective that engages in advocacy, outreach and education on public space issues in and around Vancouver. This includes challenging the increase of advertising ‘creep’ in public places, promoting creative, community-friendly urban design, monitoring private security activities in the downtown core, fostering public dialogue and democratic debate, and devising creative ways to re-green the neglected corners, alleys and forgotten spaces of the city.

For more information, visit www.vpsn.ca

Media contact:
Simon Wong
Vancouver Public Space Network
(604) 780-0279
simon[at]vancouverpublicspace.ca