The year 2022 having ended with an outbreak of deaths among pedestrians, the organization Piétons Québec hopes that 2023 will allow the implementation of real measures to protect the most vulnerable road users.
In the last two weeks before the Holidays, Piétons Québec had counted 14 pedestrians seriously injured or fatally struck. Among them, the young Mariia Legenkovska, 7 years old, hit by a motorist on December 13 while she was on her way to school in the Centre-Sud district of Montreal. As this count is based on accidents reported by the media, it is possibly partial, underlines Sandrine Cabana-Degani, director of Piétons Québec.
The full report for 2022 from the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) is not yet available, but between January and September of last year, 39 pedestrians died in Quebec, according to data from the organization. of state. Mme Cabana-Degani predicts a return to statistics similar to those before the pandemic. “We were on average 70 pedestrian deaths per year. Unfortunately, 2022 will probably join those years, which were really dramatic. »
Before the holidays, Piétons Québec had requested a meeting with Premier François Legault and the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Geneviève Guilbault, to discuss solutions aimed at protecting the most vulnerable road users. In its response, the Prime Minister’s office was open to a meeting between Piétons Québec and Minister Guilbault, says Sandrine Cabana-Degani, who hopes that this discussion will take place without delay.
For actions in 2023
The director of Piétons Québec recalls that the Government of Quebec has an important role to play in improving pedestrian safety. According to her, it is high time for Quebec to adopt a real road safety policy. “The Quebec government decides on development standards for the road network. This greatly influences the flexibility of municipalities, which are dependent on standards that are decided in Quebec,” said Ms.me Cabana Degani. As an example, she mentions the requirements of Quebec regarding the width of the roadway, which has an impact on traffic speed.
We have a huge catching up to do because our roads were built for cars.
The Ministry of Transport also has a role to play on its own roads, she adds. Some of them cross the hearts of villages and are living environments. But, in some cases, there are no sidewalks, and the traffic speed is high, deplores Mme Cabana Degani.
She hopes for more sustained funding so that municipalities and the Ministère des Transports can upgrade their transport infrastructure and make it safer. “We have a huge catching up to do because our roads were built for cars. »
Finally, the Highway Safety Code must be reviewed to better protect pedestrians, and the police should be able to enforce the rules, says Piétons Québec. “For example, not respecting a pedestrian crossing is less penalized than not paying a road toll. There are things like that in the Highway Safety Code that are a bit absurd. »
Sandrine Cabana-Degani acknowledges that her organization’s expectations are high, but she points out that the death of Mariia Legenkovska has led to “popular awareness”. “People were very touched by the death of Mariia in Ville-Marie. For them, it was unacceptable that this kind of preventable death was allowed to happen. I think the government needs to be aware of this movement […] and act. “She therefore hopes that 2023 will be the year” of taking action “.