Pedestrian Safety | A new campaign deemed “infantilizing”

Every 41 hours, someone is killed or seriously injured in a collision involving a person driving a motorized vehicle in Montreal. In the majority of cases, the victim is a pedestrian or a cyclist. Launched in a hurry to act, a new awareness campaign is causing unease among supporters of increased safety on the public highway.

Nicolas Berube
The Press

This summer, small signs signed by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) were installed at 42 accident-prone intersections in Montreal. In particular, pedestrians are invited to “look on each side” and to be “watchful for vehicles that are making turns”.

“It’s infantilizing as a message, these are things we are already doing,” laments Marion Le Bloa, a resident of the Rosemont district who lives near an intersection where signs have been installed.

Several pedestrians have died this year in Montreal, she notes, including a man in his 60s who was run over by the driver of a cube truck coming out of an alley as he walked on the sidewalk near a street. a grocery store in Vieux-Rosemont.

At the end of July, a 2-year-old girl carried by her mother in a stroller was killed at the intersection of avenue des Récollets and rue Fleury Est, in the borough of Montréal-Nord, when the driver of the an SUV swerved and crashed into them, killing the child instantly and injuring his mother.

“These are not examples where pedestrians threw themselves under the wheels of a truck, says Marion Le Bloa As pedestrians, we are often cut off by motorists in a hurry, even if we are already engaged and have the priority. »

No poster campaign aimed at alerting motorists has been put in place, she notes. “When I drive my car, I don’t see anything that reminds me of the importance of watching out for pedestrians at intersections. On the contrary, I constantly see unpunished speeding, behavior that is dangerous for pedestrians. »

car culture

The message conveyed on the panels perpetuates the primacy of automobile culture, underlines Sandrine Cabana-Degani, general manager of Piétons Québec.

“For decades, the automotive culture has been to place the burden of safety on the shoulders of the most vulnerable user, while the motorist has the free lane to circulate as he sees fit”, says -she.

In the last century, she recalls, the first motorists had to be preceded by a pedestrian with a red flag whose role was to indicate to everyone that a dangerous vehicle was circulating. Then the concept of “jaywalking”, or crossing outside pedestrian crossing zones, appeared, first in the United States, then in Canada, while some territories, notably the United Kingdom, have no law against the crossing of pedestrians, authorized everywhere on public roads, with the exception of motorways.

As a result, a culture that thinks first of motorized travel has gradually spread to North America. However, the law is clear: at intersections, it is the pedestrian who has priority, says Sandrine Cabana-Degani.

“So it’s sure that it’s frustrating then to see that we are still raising awareness among pedestrians, when these basic behaviors to ensure their safety are not necessarily respected by drivers. »

Caroline Labelle, of SPVM media relations, notes that the meaning of instructions appearing on traffic lights is often misunderstood by pedestrians.

“Although it is true that pedestrians have absolute priority when the fixed white silhouette is visible, the fact remains that looking around before starting to cross the street is the best way to prevent collisions and to protect human life,” she said.

All SPVM neighborhood stations “regularly carry out surveillance operations at intersections known to pose risks to pedestrians and specifically target vehicles. In fact, about two-thirds of these collisions are attributable to drivers.