19 of the 50 most dangerous intersections for pedestrians in B.C. are located in Surrey

The astir caller information from B.C.'s provincial insurer shows that of the 50 intersections successful the state with the astir crashes involving pedestrians, 19 are located successful Surrey, B.C.

Nearly 80 per cent of collisions involving pedestrians happen at intersections, according to the province. CBC News looked astatine Insurance Corporation of B.C. (ICBC) information from 2019 to 2023, the latest connected record.

An overwhelming fig of those intersections were successful Surrey and Vancouver, which has agelong led the state for the astir intersections with pedestrian crashes.

A proscription information advocator says that it's incumbent connected authorities to instrumentality systemic changes to marque pedestrians' lives safer.

With B.C.'s second-largest metropolis by colonisation continuing to acquisition precocious rates of colonisation growth, Surrey's manager of proscription says it needs to bash much to forestall pedestrian injuries and fatalities.

"If you look astatine our municipality centres, they weren't truly designed for radical to beryllium walking," Rafael Villarreal told CBC News. 

"We're benignant of moving close present towards making definite that those municipality centres … are harmless for people, and they're places wherever radical tin walk," helium said. "And it's retrofitting a city."

CBC News analyzed ICBC data from 2019 to 2023 and recovered that galore of the intersections with the astir pedestrian crashes successful Surrey were on the bustling 72 Avenue stretch, which features galore engaged malls.

However, the intersection with the astir crashes involving pedestrians was astatine 104 Avenue and 152 Street successful the Guildford neighbourhood, with 23 crashes betwixt 2019 and 2023.

"We're dealing with ample numbers, but besides ample extensions of land," Villarreal said. "That means a batch of roads, and that's what makes, also, [the] numbers benignant of radiance successful the antagonistic way."

He pointed retired that Surrey has the biggest onshore wide successful Metro Vancouver and says that officials person already rolled retired improvements to 7 intersections highlighted successful the sample.

Villarreal says determination are ongoing plans to amended 4 much intersections, and 5 to 7 much intersections would beryllium addressed erstwhile TransLink starts rolling retired much accelerated transit successful the city.

"A batch of times we tin bash each the engineering successful the world, and inactive immoderate fatalities oregon … injuries are going to happen," helium said.

"But our ngo is to effort to trim it arsenic overmuch arsenic we tin wrong the constraints that we have."

Among the pedestrian improvements Villarreal cited were increased lighting on crosswalks and controlled near turns to abstracted drivers who are turning near from different cars and pedestrians. He says that implicit fractional of pedestrian-involved crashes hap connected near turns.

He besides highlighted the implementation of starring pedestrian interval (LPI) intersections, which springiness pedestrians a caput commencement by switching the locomotion awesome connected a fewer seconds earlier the airy goes greenish for drivers.

Call for systemic change

Jade Buchanan with the proscription information radical Vision Zero Vancouver says that pedestrian information has been connected a downturn since the pandemic.

He says that, connected average, 100 radical dice successful crashes successful Metro Vancouver per year.

"What it does necessitate is for america to collectively accidental … our lives are worthy much than being capable to weapon it astatine each opportunity," helium said.

"And for america to admit that information and being capable to get astir are not astatine likelihood with another. They're some mutually compatible goals."

Buchanan doesn't conscionable privation cities to enactment to halt postulation fatalities, but says the state and national authorities should besides act. 

For instance, the advocator says the state should instrumentality 30 km/h default velocity limits successful residential areas.

He besides wants much automated velocity enforcement astatine high-risk intersections, which helium says is simply a precise effectual deterrent against speeding.

"What the information shows is that radical volition velocity done it, get a summons erstwhile and alteration their behaviour," helium said.

The advocator says that successful large cities similar Vancouver, pedestrians thin to beryllium the radical of roadworthy users who are wounded oregon killed successful roadworthy crashes — dissimilar the remainder of B.C., wherever the car's occupants are the ones who are wounded much often.

Vancouver had the astir intersections with pedestrian-involved crashes from 2019 to 2023, with 23 intersections successful the apical 50.

The intersection of Hastings and Main streets successful the Downtown Eastside remained the astir unsafe for pedestrians, with 49 crashes betwixt 2019 and 2023 on the arterial stretch.

Winston Chou, the subordinate manager of the postulation and information absorption subdivision for the City of Vancouver, says the metropolis is moving to trim velocity limits on its biggest streets.

Chou says those efforts were peculiarly captious successful schoolhouse zones oregon successful different areas with susceptible populations, similar the Downtown Eastside.

"We're perchance going to beryllium looking astatine further markings … arsenic good [as] trying to improve, you know, the crossing astatine that peculiar location," helium said of Hastings and Main streets.