With wetter days here and even darker days approaching, pedestrians in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam can grab some reflective light this week to help them on their journeys.
The two cities are teaming up with ICBC and Coquitlam RCMP to hand out reflective dangle tags as part of a month-long pedestrian safety campaign.
This morning (Wednesday), volunteers were to pass out the tags at the West Coast Express station and downtown later this afternoon. And on Thursday, officials will reinforce the "Be Bright, Be Seen, Be Safe" message and hand out reflectors to pedestrians at Lougheed Highway and Pinetree Way.
The program encourages pedestrians to:
wear light-coloured clothes;
place reflective tape on outerwear;
cross at lit intersections;
and make eye contact with drivers so they see you.
Dan Mooney, Coquitlam's manager of roads and traffic operations, said pedestrians shouldn't have to be reminded to about the dangers of jaywalking.
"The responsibility is for motorists to yield to pedestrians at an intersection or in a crosswalk, and also for pedestrians not to cross in the middle of the block unless there is a marked crosswalk," he said in a news release, adding, "On average there are 100 injury and three fatal crashes per year involving pedestrians within the Tri-Cities. We'd like to see those numbers reduce."
