According to ICBC, there are 1,400 crashes involving pedestrians and motor vehicles every year in Lower Mainland — and almost half occur during the dark winter months.
On Tuesday, teams of officers from Coquitlam RCMP, representatives from ICBC and community volunteers were trying to do something about that as they handed out reflective stickers and cards with safety tips to passersby at busy pedestrian areas at transit stations, around Coquitlam city hall all and in downtown Port Coquitlam.
Cpl. Michael McLaughlin of the Coquitlam RCMP said by the end of the day, all 8,000 stickers had been distributed, mostly to receptive recipients who appreciated the bright, eye-catching flashes of colour on their dark winter coats and jackets as well as the reminders to be extra alert in the weeks and months ahead.
He hopes they take that to heart.
“We really hope people make good decisions so the only time they talk to police is when we’re handing out reflective stickers and not when we’re transporting them to hospital or notifying them of a loved one who’s been hit,” McLaughlin said.
One of those decisions is to be predictable.
McLaughlin said while human nature may motivate a pedestrian to cross in the middle of a block because they perceive it as a more efficient way to get where they’re going, crosswalks, stop signs and lights exist to create predictable behaviour for everyone using the road.
“A lot of people wonder why they need to cross at a crosswalk, and the fact is, you’re not doing that just for yourself, you’re communicating with everyone around you,” McLaughlin said. “You’re safer when you’re doing something you’re supposed to be doing.”
That goes for motorists as well, McLaughlin said.
While pedestrians have to bear a certain amount of responsibility for their own safety, drivers have a responsibility to everyone around them on the roadways and sidewalks.
“Our message to them is to take driving seriously,” McLaughlin said. “Do a single task when you’re driving and that is drive.”
To reinforce that message, McLaughlin said the department is also stepping up enforcement of infractions like not yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks and rolling through stop signs.
And as the days get shorter and winter rains set in, McLaughlin said the stakes are high.
“Often pedestrians aren’t at fault but they’re going to lose every time in a collision with a car.”
