Daily BrewB.C. hit-and-run captured on video highlights the dangers of Canadian streets
A surveillance video that caught a British Columbia hit-and-run in progress shows a dark intersection, a deluge of traffic and at least one apparently mindless driver.
The video, graphic in its simplicity, captures the moment a white SUV turns, accelerates through a crosswalk in Surrey, B.C., and collides with two women crossing the street in the safest manner possible — at a crosswalk with a green light shining.
The women were joggers, equipped with headlamps and reflective clothing, according to the Vancouver Sun. They survived the incident, but a 65-year-old man in nearby Mission was not so lucky. He died after being struck while walking along the side of a road the day before.
[ Related: Surrey joggers hit-and-run caught on camera ]
In both cases, the driver fled. In both cases, suspects have been arrested.
The two incidents highlight the problem of pedestrian safety, not just in B.C., where 13 pedestrians have been killed in the past five weeks, but across the country.
More than 2,200 people were killed on Canadian streets in 2010, the most recent available statistics report. More than 11,000 others were seriously injured. Expand the scope further and more than 170,000 Canadians suffered some level of injury in a collision in 2010.
About 13 per cent of all victims are pedestrians, meaning 296 people were killed in 2010 while walking to the corner store, or home from work. People crossing the same intersection they have crossed hundreds of times before.
The latest numbers suggest collisions and fatalities have declined slightly in recent years. But the issue remains a concern to police forces and public safety advocates across the country.
The B.C. Coroners Service released a safety bulletin this week, urging those walking and driving take caution over the next few months. December and January are considered high-tide for pedestrian collisions, with an early sunset and wet weather playing significant factors.
[ Related: Pedestrian deaths dominate Vancouver traffic fatalities ]
The report also indicates that almost 40 per cent of recent pedestrian deaths in B.C. occurred at intersections or crosswalks. And most of those have come while the victims were crossing at a green light. Nationwide reports have placed that number as high as 60 per cent.
The Sun reports that Vancouver city council considers pedestrian safety a significant concern, and are set to vote on a budget that would earmark $4 million next year to raise crosswalks and take other measures to keep pedestrians safe.
The hope is that drivers and pedestrians will do their part as well.
