I don’t enjoy going to Vancouver. Never have really. There’s a few reasons for that, but the main problem is the congestion. If you’re able to tolerate the Massey Tunnel experience — and I call it an experience, because if the slightest thing goes wrong there it can turn into more of a vehicular Berlin Wall than a tunnel. And when you get clear of that, you are rewarded by even more congestion a few clicks down the road.
It once took me half an hour to go around a single block in the Burrard and West Hastings area, and that was in the early afternoon. It’s no surprise then that a 2022 survey by Tom-Tom, a world leading location, navigation and map technology corporation, found that Vancouver was the second worst city in North America for congestion.
There are lots of reasons that create congestion, but the one which sticks out for me is pedestrians, especially the ones who seemingly have zero regard for walk signals. Part of my getting round the block issue in Vancouver was caused by the inability to simply turn round a corner because of the endless cascade of pedestrians crossing in front — regardless of what the walk signal displayed. To be fair to Vancouver though, we certainly have nothing to brag about in that regard here in the capital region.
Why do so many pedestrians ignore signals? Anyone above the age of seven must understand that being struck by a car is one of the worst things which can befall the human body. Yet there seems to be unabated risk-taking on the part of many walkers every minute of every day on our increasingly crowded roadways.
First up is intentional recklessness. While I’d like not to believe that there are many pedestrians in this category, it’s a factor — people who couldn’t give a you-know-what. Their mission is to get from A to B and the rest of the world doesn’t exist — the ones who step out deliberately and yet give you the stink eye as they stride through long after the “Don’t Walk” hand has been raised.
That type of behaviour speaks to their attitude about respect for others generally but it’s also about a false sense of security. Painted crosswalks are a great invention. They clearly mark a path for walking across a road and establish a set of rules about how people and vehicles must interact. But at the same time, they have created what I call a “force field” mentality in many pedestrians.
That force field allows them to step out and keep on going regardless of traffic or visibility conditions — “drivers will always stop for me” — until they don’t. There are many examples in cities throughout the world where officials have removed crosswalks because the number of pedestrians being struck increased, sometimes dramatically, as a result of that false sense of security.
I remain firmly convinced that countdown timers which are now integral to all pedestrian walk signals are a bad thing. They enable lousy pedestrian behaviour. Too many people see those countdown clocks as a licence to keep on going, knowing that they have another 10 or 20 seconds to saunter along before the main traffic light turns red.
Distracted walking is also a big deal. I don’t agree with it, but I kind of understand the person who’s in a hurry and runs across the road when they’re actually looking out for potential danger. What I can’t comprehend are the ones who step out, without so much as a sideways glance, to see what might be barrelling down on top of them. In those cases it’s usually about their face being buried in a smartphone or wearing a set of atomic headphones shutting them off the rest of the world. Crossing a busy road, signals or not, requires 100 per cent of your attention.
Bad engineering also has a role in pedestrian safety. Inadequate lighting, street furniture, construction obstacles and dare I say it — navigating across bike lanes — distract pedestrians from the vehicle threats. Centre traffic islands with all kinds of beautifying vegetation seem to be the rage these days but, untended, they often block visibility, according to several readers.
I can see the emails already. Drivers are bad or worse than pedestrians. They aren’t paying attention like they need to. They don’t stop for stop signs or red lights. They turn and cut off pedestrians all the time. No argument here.
Pedestrian safety, however, is a shared responsibility. Walkers, drivers and urban designers all have a role to play. The bottom line is: Whether a pedestrian is right or wrong they will always be the loser against the vehicle that hits them.
