According to Statistics of Transport Canada’s National Collision Database (NCDB), vehicle occupant safety has seen improvement over a period of several decades. However, with walking a basic method of transport that is becoming more popular, Ontario residents might already be aware that there is big problem with pedestrian safety.

On behalf of Joseph Caprara of CBLAW posted in Pedestrian Accidents on Friday, October 24, 2014.

According to Transport Canada’s National Collision Database (NCDB), vehicle occupant safety has seen improvement over a period of several decades. However, with walking a basic method of transport that is becoming more popular, Ontario residents might already be aware that there is big problem with pedestrian safety.

Statistics show that hundreds of thousands of pedestrian were injured and nearly 9,000 pedestrians died in traffic accidents across Canada between 1989 and 2009. This means that around 6.5 percent of the injured and 13 percent of the deceased victims in all traffic collisions were pedestrians. The injuries and fatalities of pedestrians have remained relatively flat during the period.

Between 2005 and 2009, an average of around 340 pedestrians died every year in pedestrian accidents, including around 44 children under the age of 18. The Canadian Institute for Health Information reports that motor vehicles hit 6,442 pedestrians between 2000 and 2008, and 854 of these trauma cases were children under the age of 16.

Transport Canada reports that the fundamental factor behind these figures is that the nation’s roads have not been designed with vulnerable road users in mind. Road engineering has focused on motor vehicle users, ignoring the needs of other road users. There is no safe system approach, which would assume that unprotected road users are the most exposed part of the roadway system, designing the system around that. Research shows that putting more emphasis on pedestrian safety could reduce the number of pedestrians injured and killed in the country.

The many pedestrians who are involved in traffic collisions in Ontario every year and the surviving relatives of fatal pedestrian accident victims might be able to recover some of the financial damages. Although the plaintiffs could file claims for compensation on their own, they may get help from lawyers who might strengthen their case.

Source: Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, “Countermeasures to Improve Pedestrian Safety in Canada,” Oct. 19, 2014