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Last week, I nearly got killed as I walked onto a crosswalk on Lacewood Drive.
I pressed the button and stepped out, assuming the car was far enough to stop. A loud, heart-dropping three car collision later, I was looking back over the moment that could’ve easily been my last. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
This is not a unique case in Halifax: pedestrian safety is a real issue here. Last year was a record-breaking year for the number of pedestrian accidents: 262 collisions, up from 169 the year before.
This year, 109 pedestrians have been hit, two of whom passed away. Admittedly, this number is an improvement on last year, but the only acceptable number of pedestrian fatalities is zero.Â
But where does the responsibility of pedestrian safety really lie? All three drivers, and the police on scene, thought I was at fault for jumping off the sidewalk too early.
Sure, it was rainy and foggy, and I might have misjudged how fast the car was approaching. But if a fully able adult like myself misjudged the situation, how do you expect children, seniors, or the disabled to navigate the city streets?
The vulnerable road user should not bear that responsibility. A misjudgment on their part would cost them their life. We saw that with the tragic death of the cyclist in Purcell’s cove this week.
The responsibility does not solely fall on the driver either. Lacewood Drive is four-lane road with a minimum 16 metre setback for any abutting building. On a road like this, with low pedestrian activity, the driver would never anticipate someone crossing, even if it was at a crosswalk. At the 60 km/h speed limit, the collision would’ve probably killed me. The way the street is designed does not create a safe environment for pedestrians.
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This is actually rooted in neuroscience. The driver’s brain develops expectations of what it might encounter on the road. On roads like Lacewood Drive, it expects that only other cars will be encountered. This is why one study shows that sometimes drivers do not become aware of pedestrians even when they are looking directly towards them.
Tom Vanderbilt, author of the book Traffic: why we drive the way we do, explains how roads that feel so safe actually cause the drivers to be less aware of the possibility of anyone crossing the road. The brain drowns out the edges of the street.
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The phenomenon that Vanderbilt explains is precisely why the chaotic scenery of a shared space works much better as an intersection than the system we have here where there is a clear separation between pedestrian and vehicle right-of-way.Â
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In these settings, where there is no clear separation between pedestrian and car space, the drivers feel unsure of when or where a pedestrian would cross. The natural reaction to this feeling is to slow down. As soon as that happens, the likelihood and impact of a pedestrian collision go down significantly. The chances of a pedestrian getting killed in a car collision at 30 km/h are five times lower than if the car is going at 50 km/h.
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You can’t have a road that seduces drivers to speed and then expect them to slow down. Cities that want to promote safety for pedestrians have to understand that drivers adapt their behaviors to the environment around them. They can’t leave the fate of people’s lives to human error.Â
If Lacewood Drive was well-designed, the driver would be driving slower, and would have seen me before I even pressed the crosswalk button. Misjudgments happen. We need to design streets where they are not fatal.
Last week, the city nearly killed me, and I was lucky to survive without injury. The cyclist who tragically died this week was not as lucky. If we do not act, the next victim could be anyone of us.
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Voice of the City is a platform for any and all Halifax individuals to share their diverse opinions and writings. The Coast does not guarantee the accuracy of, or endorse the views of those published. Our editors reserve the right to alter submissions for clarity, length and style. Want to appear in this section? Submissions can be sent to voice@thecoast.ca.
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This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2015.
Huge problem in this city for sure. I couldn’t help but dislike the article after reading “disabled people” Please use person first language especially if you are on a soap box to defend and protect certain people. ‘People who have a disability’ not “disabled people”.
“I pressed the button and stepped out, assuming the car was far enough to stop.” Don’t step out into moving traffic. Ever. You don’t know what’s going on with that driver — are they distracted? Do they see you even if they aren’t? Are they sneezing at that particular moment? Seriously, if the cars aren’t stopped, don’t go there. It doesn’t matter whether it’s right or wrong, the pedestrian will inevitably lose. Please oh please, walkers, don’t assume.
So you admitted that you assumed the car was going to stop, stepped out into traffic even before it stopped AND caused a three-car accident? The police and all three drivers thought you were at fault so PLEASE don’t pin this on the drivers or the city for the road design, especially if the conditions are less than ideal…
Mid-block crosswalks pretty much anywhere are just accidents waiting to happen. They should simply do away with them, especially on multi-lanes like Lacewood.
You almost killed yourself with your neglect and ignorance. Stop putting the blame on others and take responsibility for your own safety. Stop acting like a victim, maybe if you had waited to see if the car had slowed down this wouldn’t have happened. I mean. If everyone there including police say it was your fault it probably was, so stop placing blame where it doesn’t belong and own your own safety. You are an adult. Act like it
My children and I never step off the curb until we have made eye contact with the driver>
WTF. You walked in front of a car expecting it to stop? I feel bad for the people who’s cars you fucked up, jackoff.
I do not drive, so I depend on walking to get me everywhere. I DO NOT walk out in front of a moving car EVER! I’ve seen so many drivers just keep driving and it’s taking your own life into your hands when you just “walk out”. If EVERYONE, and I mean both drivers and pedestrians, just slowed down and had the patience to wait an extra second or two instead of being so self involved that you don’t know whats going on around you, then there would be far less accidents.
Yea right. Blame everyone else and the city for your fault.
All it requires is a bit more caution on your side. Instead of changing the laws AND redesigning the city to appease some careless pedestrians.
Pedestrian safety is a two-way responsibility. Drivers are expected to pay attention, drive the limit, and drive defensively. Pedestrians have responsibilities too…As we learned in elementary school, you look both ways and make eye contact with drivers *before* stepping off the curb. Without eye contact, you can’t be even reasonably sure that the driver has seen you.
Common sense also plays here – if it is raining or foggy, use a higher-visibility crosswalk (i.e. one with lights). If the pavement is wet, don’t try to assume stopping distance for a car – bald tires, hydroplaning, and excessive speed for conditions are all variables you have no way of accounting for.
The city didn’t almost kill you. Your lack of patience, sense, and responsibility did.
Sincerely, a fellow pedestrian
You stepped out before the cars stopped. Lets be very very clear – This was your fault. You almost killed yourself. Not street signs or neuroscience. As a driver in this city, it’s so frustrating that I have all the responsibility of safety while pedestrians and cyclists take none. Neither follow the rules of the road. No one is mentioning while its a tragic accident, the cyclist that was killed was riding her bike in the crosswalk, not safely walking across like she was supposed to. Cyclists pop on and off the sidewalks (where they are not supposed to be in the 1st place) at their fancy. Skateboarders don’t wear helmets. And pedestrians assume we will see you in time. Those stats would be much higher if it wasn’t for the hyper vigilance of drivers assuming that the non drivers on the road will take no responsibility. In any other city – well in the world really, the onus of safety is 100% on the pedestrian. Drivers don’t stop, ever.
People who say that you should never cross the street until all cars are stopped are deluded, in my opinion. Even if one or two cars are stopped, creating a sense that it may be safe to cross, another driver, far further away, may be going so fast that they still have time to reach you and then either fail or decide to not stop, and possibly hit or kill you. I see this happen constantly in Halifax. Drivers don’t even bother to stop when they know someone is in the crosswalk, they calculate in their heads that its going to be safe to either slow down slightly, or not slow down at all with the assumption that all will go as planned and the pedestrian won’t get hit or killed. We can do better. Slow down; stop; let people get fully across the crosswalk before putting your foot to the floor. Halifax has lost its humanity and sanity. It’s obvious to those who walk or cycle for any length of time that things have gone horribly wrong here. I intuitively have felt since moving back here that design and government has been encouraging this through a lack of corners, stop signs, street lights, proper/any bike lanes, highway-style roads everywhere, higher than reasonable speed limits, and a host of other factors.
I was taught as a child. Do not cross at a crosswalk until all cars come to a complete stop back in the 60’s and that should still be the correct use at a crosswalk. A person cannot win with a car. Safety first
“This is actually rooted in neuroscience. The driver’s brain develops expectations of what it might encounter on the road.”
How can you write this and be stupid enough to believe it’s not the same for pedestrians? When I cross a double lane, if there’s one car stopped, I cautiously peer around the first car hoping some asshole isn’t gunning through the red light(If I recall, this is a major cause of pedestrian accidents). When possible, I make eye contact with the stopped drivers. If they are gazing down at their phone or something, I remain cautious until I’m safely across. I try not to do anything with my own phone while I’m crossing. Call me overzealous, but I haven’t been killed yet.
Also, lose the smug fucking smile. You could’ve ruined people’s lives.
I’m a pedestrian…so I get the dangers…but dude…learn some personal safety…Wait til the traffic has stopped, make eye contact with the driver of each vehicle to make sure they see you before stepping in front of them, and never EVER step out in traffic when its still moving…you are in tennis shoes, they are in a car…Get the point??
Why do pedestrians think that because legally they have the right to walk across that means they are safe to walk across…
Ohhh wait…he’s a city planner/researcher from Vancouver. Coincidence that an urban planner from the west is losing his mind over our dangerous east coast streets.
To be fair dude…the city didn’t almost kill you. You almost killed yourself for not having a lick of common sense. When you get back to BC you may want to remember when researching or planning city streets that there are a lot of nitwits out there, making bad decisions…You may be one of them.
Darwin theory comes to mind, only the strong will survive the rest will weed themselves out!
Only stupid people get hit by cars!!! If you are going to trust your safety to someone you don’t even know, travelling at 50+km/h, you’re an idiot, period!!!
The city didn’t almost kill you, you almost killed yourself. That having been said Traffic is a great book and a worth while read. Streets that resemble racetracks encourage drivers to act like racecar drivers. Excessive speed limits, especially on the 100 series highways, ensure that the fatality rate will be higher than it otherwise would. Instaed we here repeated calls to “twin” every major road, an expensive solution that we can’t afford.
Thank you for your article, Houssam. I thought about what you said, and hopefully other people will also take your frightening experience into mind when they are driving. We need to stop blaming the victims and recognize that we have an issue.
I was crossing Dutch Village with the light on my side and the oncoming driver stopped. As it is two lanes, the driver in behind pulled out and passed the stopped car and almost creamed me as I was halfway across the street. It is not always the pedestrian that is at fault.
You wait until the driver sees you and the car is fully stopped before stepping into the street. You should be paying to fix the damaged vehicles and any medical bills or loss of wages due to your stupidity.
I was actually the “third car” involved in this accident discussed in the article above.. and didn’t even come close to being involved. And my ‘spoken-out-loud’ reaction was “you should probably wait until the car actually starts to slow down..” the first car had to slam on their brakes to stop on time since he pushed the button for the flashing light AS he stepped out on the crosswalk, then the second car (probably a bit too close behind, yes) hit the first car which pushed him into crosswalk and almost into the pedestrian who wrote this. Your fault. Sorry bud. I always wait until I at least see the cars coming to a rolling stop.
Pedestrians….don’t just walk out into traffic. Make eye contact and be sure the cars have stopped. Also, take off the damn headphones, ear pieces and stop talking on your phones when you’re crossing-stupid and dangerous as you are not paying proper attention to your surroundings.
That said, cars….. as soon as lights start to flash, it’s time to stop-safely, so people can cross. Locking up the brakes is not needed- just continue on through if you’re that close, but if you can safely stop- do it!
I addressed some of the comments regarding this article on the Coast’s facebook post, I thought I should share it here as well. Please read it, especially username ‘girly’ who was the third driver involved in the incident.
https://www.facebook.com/TheCoastHalifax/posts/10153287627182695
Edit for the comments here:
Mallory Elizabeth: Please excuse my ignorance of using the correct terminology, as soon as I read your comment, I realized my mistake. Would edit it if I can.
I’m glad people saw this article for the “Junk Science” it was. This is the 2nd article I’ve read where people have latched on to a study that found pedestrians experience less injury @ 30km/h than 50km/h and alluded the speed limits across the city should be changed to support this. How is this a “solution”?? – talk about giving up: “well we can’t stop people from being ignorant or distracted so we’ll just slow everything down so when people just ‘press the button and go’ and inevitably get hit, they’ll be less hurt” Let’s focus more on not getting hit in the 1st place. These commenters have done more to come up with solution to avoid collisions then your entire article – especially given that you were at fault. Not to mention that there wasn’t actually a vehicle -pedestrian collision here, so despite your criticism and ignorance the current system worked and spared your life. You walked away unscathed while 3 other people suffered costly property damage and potential injury (ie:whiplash from rear-end collision). I’m amazed you had the nerve to write this article – your words should have been spent praising the actions of those drivers that saved you from injury or worse.
Only by The Coast, could one who walks out into traffic be considered a victim – of the whole fucking city.
This article illustrates very well just how car-centric a culture we live in. The comments are beyond unbelievable. Almost everyone blames the pedestrian and some go so far as to accuse him of almost ruining people’s lives. Like cyclists, the only ones whose lives are likely to be ruined in any meaningful sense (death or serious injury) between a car/truck/bus/ ATV/motorbike and a pedestrian/cyclist is NOT the operator of the MOTORIZED vehicle. It is deemed acceptable that pedestrians/cyclists take on 100% responsibility for their safety while absolving planners and politicians of any responsibility for addressing the safety needs of people other than those who drive fucking pollution-spewing, global warming causing, people killing, take-up-too-much-space-in-the-city-by-just-parking-95%-of-the-time-so-selfish-assholes-can-drive-to-work-and-back-home motorised vehicles.
He did almost ruin people’s lives. Do you not use your brain either? It’s my responsibility as a pedestrian to keep -myself- safe. You can assume like this asshole did, that drivers are always paying attention and have your best interests at heart, but why risk it? In an accident between a pedestrian/cyclist and a motor vehicle, just who do you think has the winning chance? The one with the strongest morals? Don’t assume, use your brain.
This guy was 100% at fault, was told so by multiple parties, and still plays the victim card and comes to cry on The Coast about how the city is dangerous? How about YOU get out of our city and go live in a rural environment where your reckless behaviour isn’t endangering the lives of yourself or those on the road?
The button doesn’t stop the on-coming cars. You do still have to wait for them to stop before you use the crosswalk. Arrive at your destination alive!
I dunno why we don’t just ban cars and force people by law to ride bikes, that’d save all the idiots who don’t pay attention when they cross a road. Here’s a tip, try not stepping out into the road until the car has stopped geniuses.