Police are questioning a man in connection with Calgary’s third hit and run this week, and safety groups in the city are also questioning why more isn’t being done to keep pedestrians safe.
Three incidents involving pedestrians in a short period of time seems high, but officials with the Calgary Police Service say they deal with incidents like this on a relatively frequent basis.
The CPS says Calgary has hundreds of pedestrian crashes every year, and several people dead from such incidents too.
In the last four years, between six and 11 pedestrians have been killed each year, with more than 400 suffering injuries as well.
Advocates say there is no reason for the high rate of crashes and something needs to be done about enforcement, education, and engineering.
Unfortunately, most of the proposals require cash and city budgets are usually aimed at building new, much needed roads, rather than upgrade old ones.
“We need to increase the safety of the infrastructure to match the feeling of safety they tend to feel and that includes making the driver feel more vulnerable in that situation so they feel ‘I’m a little concerned here, maybe I need to pay extra attention. I need to slow down’,” said Greg Hart with Safer Calgary.
Hart says that current situation is very unbalanced, where the pedestrian is the one who feels safe when they are really in danger.
The city does say they are making progress, with council deciding to transform a pilot project into a permanent solution.
Free standing flashing beacons have been installed near crosswalks to help indicate to drivers when a pedestrian is crossing the road.
They don’t require as much infrastructure to build, so that reduces the cost considerably.
There are currently 19 beacons installed around the city.
