Thread by @BasilLangevin

Our streets are designed to prioritize car speed over pedestrian safety, and it's literally killing us and our kids.

This monumental tragedy in Saanich was completely preventable. Other countries are demonstrating that. 1/13

https://twitter.com/saanichnews/status/1468305579693142016

Humans are imperfect. We all make mistakes. Accidents happen.

The problem is, our street design in Canada makes those mistakes fatal, and this is by choice.

In countries like Sweden and the Netherlands, streets are designed so that mistakes don't lead to serious injury. 2/13

When a serious crash happens in the Netherlands, engineers investigate how the street can be changed to prevent future crashes. Then they change it.

There, crashes are largely blamed on design failures. In Canada, crashes are blamed on individuals. 3/13

In Canada, here's what typically happens after a pedestrian is seriously injured:
1. Police show up and determine who is "at fault" for insurance purposes.
2. The crash scene is cleaned and infrastructure is repaired.
3. That's it. Nothing fundamentally changes. 4/13

The results are telling: Canada has almost twice as many traffic fatalities per capita as the Netherlands.

This is not because the Dutch are better drivers: it's because their roads are designed for safety. 5/13

Here's an example of what the Dutch are doing to redesign their unsafe streets. Narrowing lanes, adding complexity, and shortening crossing distances all dramatically improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and cars. 6/13

Meanwhile, here's what this young person faced when trying to cross the road in their neighbourhood in Saanich. Wide lanes, minimal complexity, dilapidated sidewalks, and cars travelling 50+km/h.

This was a crash waiting to happen. 7/13

The biggest factor in pedestrian fatalities is speed. At 30km/h, pedestrians have a 95% chance of surviving. At 50km/h, it's less than 40%.

When I visited this crossing last night, some cars were travelling 60km/h. At that speed, we only have a 10% chance of survival. 8/13

What's worse? This crossing is right in front of Community Living Victoria: a nonprofit providing support services to autistic and intellectually disabled kids.

This is gross negligence, plain and simple. 9/13

I feel so terribly for the family whose lives have been fundamentally altered by this tragedy. I feel horribly for the young person who will forever be traumatized. And I feel awful for the driver because I can't imagine how horrible it would feel to run over a kid. 10/13

What makes me most upset is that this whole situation was completely preventable. This crash didn't have to happen.

The decisions our city made when designing this street years ago caused this crash, and our city's failure to correct an obvious danger allowed it to happen. 11/13

Pedestrian injuries and deaths happen hundreds of times each year across this country, and every one of them is absolutely unacceptable. We have a moral imperative to do things differently. 12/13
strongtowns.org/journal/2014/1…

If you're in Saanich, please show up to this street safety protest at City Hall on Friday at 2pm. I'll be there, and I hope to see you as well. Together, we can change things. 13/13

https://twitter.com/PhilipMarciniak/status/1468405576916881410