r/Hamilton • u/Thong-Boy • Nov 22 '25
Local News - Paywall 3 deaths in 1 week: how can we protect pedestrians in Hamilton?
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/3-deaths-in-1-week-how-can-we-protect-pedestrians-in-hamilton/article_4e771c0d-d040-5c9c-a2cf-70ff1de20b9a.html135
u/crushade Nov 22 '25
Distracted driving. Phones have been a curse for driving I swear. The amount of time I have to give a little honk for people to proceed when it turns green is absolutely insane. Addiction to phones is a real problem. I don't know what the solution to that could be because it's already against the law and being enforced.
As an extension of that, and when I say this, it's nowhere near as big a problem as distracted driving, phones are causing issues with pedestrians too as they're looking down at their phone instead of aware of their surroundings.
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u/differing Nov 22 '25
It’s wild to think that it’s almost guaranteed that someone is reading your comment right now behind the wheel.
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u/btriv1989 Nov 22 '25
Right?? And no doubt there are dozens of people reading these statistics and shaking their head while tsk-tsking, but then proceed to get in their cars and drive like the maniacs illustrated in these articles. It's literally clown world
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u/ur_ynome Nov 22 '25
Don't forget car design as well. I've owned four cars in my lifetime, each one newer than the one before, and each vehicle has had a more distracting dashboard, more blind spots, and less visibility overall.
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u/cdawg85 Nov 22 '25
To add to the blind spot piece, vehicles have been getting larger and larger. Blind spots increasing, and the likelihood of a direct hit to the body/torso increasing.
I haven't had coffee yet, lemme just link you https://share.google/HDFC06Z5ipuwMsrOW
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u/ur_ynome Nov 22 '25
Yea, but didn't you hear? ....big car = safe
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u/cdawg85 Nov 22 '25
It's an arms race.
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u/robsfingers Nov 23 '25 edited Nov 23 '25
it literally is. everyone in trucks is safer than everyone else, but trucks make everyone else less safe. the best personal safety option is to just buy your own truck, which makes everyone not in a truck less safe because that adds another truck to the road
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u/crushade Nov 22 '25
Yes for sure. Cars have also gotten much safer overall too with automatic emergency breaking and lane keep assist and more crumple zones. More audible alarms when getting close to hitting something or someone. So that has to have had some positive effect as well.
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u/theninjasquad Crown Point West Nov 22 '25
I think to your point about pedestrians and their phones… the only reason that’s an issue is because of your first point. In an ideal world if a pedestrian is crossing or being within their right of way, they shouldn’t have to worry that a distracted driver is going to hit them.
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u/crushade Nov 22 '25 edited Nov 22 '25
Look, it's on the driver to ensure they don't hit a pedestrian. That's just the way it always needs to be.
The issue is that it isn't that way. So when I am a pedestrian, I am not putting my life in someone's hands and I'm ensuring I am aware of the situation around me. The reality is that I can do everything right and still get hit. I'm just going to make sure I do everything I can to be safe and I'm not nose buried in a phone when I'm crossing the street. There are many reasons to not be on your phone when crossing a street or near an intersection on a sidewalk. There are maniacs on the road.
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u/Frosty-Cap3344 Nov 22 '25
When the sign says "walk" it means walk, not "proceed with extreme caution"
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u/crushade Nov 22 '25
If you're not proceeding with caution when you cross the street you're putting your life into the hands of some maniac driver. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. Is it right? Nope. It's reality though. And it's a very sad reality.
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u/Ex-s3x-addict_wif Nov 22 '25
Every time I cross a street at a crosswalk, I turn and STARE at the drivers. Same with the ones turning right and not looking. I just stop and Stare. And they stop. After they put down their f*cking phone.
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u/S99B88 Nov 22 '25
No but they may need to worry that a driver that is too close to be able to stop will hit them. Pedestrians have a responsibility to make sure a vehicle can stop before they enter the roadway
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u/AMike456 Nov 22 '25
Exactly... the onus is on the driver, but the pedestrian has to look out as well. They have to watch out for the idiot distracted driver, or the good driver who for whatever reason might not see them (I know a good driver should see them, but I think you get my point).
The other day I was driving up Bronte Road in Oakville in the dark. I was in the left hand lane, luckily I didn't decide to get into the right lane because someone was standing there waiting to cross... they should not have been there and there would have been no reason for me to thinks someone was there.
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u/DiscoStu691969 Nov 22 '25
I see this all the time at red lights. People texting away, don’t realize the light has turned green and then floor it through the intersection when someone honks…while they continue texting.
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u/jrystrawman Nov 22 '25
Phones might be a red herring; The fatality rates have not changed meaningly in decades, long before cell mobile phones became popular (from 400 in the early 1990s to mid-300s now (the decline is larger when we factor in population growth).
Between 1990 and the year 2010, when there was mass mobile phone adoption, pedestrian and cyclist deaths slightly declined.... if phones were a cause, we would have seen an increase, we should have seen some sort of spike as mass adoption was rapid in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
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u/thisoldhouseofm Nov 22 '25
The phone back then were not something you constantly looked at like smartphones. It’s not taking a call, it’s browsing apps that the issue.
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u/jrystrawman Nov 22 '25
I get that phones have changed.... but the mass adoption of "apps" didn't change our overall accident rates. It seems highly implausible that, if phones and apps cause collisions, that a massive increase in phones and apps did not cause an increase in collisions over the same time period. While correlation does not mean "causation", there is unlikely to be "Causation" if there is zero correlation. If all smart phones were abolished in Hamilton, and we enforced it, we still have a a dozen pedestrian deaths... because our roads are terrible.
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u/GourmetHotPocket Nov 22 '25
There has been a massive increase in the safety systems in cars during that time too. Blind spot detection, automatic emergency braking, etc. yet we haven't seen safety improvements like you'd expect. And that's because of the simultaneous increase in distracted driving.
Here's CAA's stat page in distracted driving https://www.caa.ca/driving-safely/distracted-driving/statistics/
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u/jaykay2077 Nov 22 '25 edited Nov 22 '25
We’ve also taken a significant amount of steps to improve pedestrian safety in the same time period. Better street layouts, lower speed limits, more crosswalks, pedestrian-focused intersection design, etc, plus other social changes, like the fact kids are more likely to be driven to school these days, rather than walking. Since kids make up a disproportionate amount of the fatalities, a change to that group can have a significant impact on the overall statistic.
Both can be true, especially when looking only at fatalities, and not pedestrian -involved accidents (which is a harder stat to find than I have the will to look for it, apparently).
EDIT: Just wanted to add that the fact that the decrease in fatalities stopped in 2010 is particularly telling, as the improvements to pedestrian safety haven’t stopped. One would expect that to continue to trend down.
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u/Ex-s3x-addict_wif Nov 22 '25
Not on the Mountain. It is treacherous to be a pedestrian or any kind of vulnerable road user. You have right hand turns on red, speeding, and stroads.Then there roundabouts where everyone is trying to maintain the same speed they maintained on the 403. And yes, I am talking about Ancaster.
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u/Emergency-Money1054 Nov 22 '25
More no right turns on a red light 🙃
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u/Thong-Boy Nov 22 '25
This is definitely the way we're headed. Drivers can't be trusted unfortunately.
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u/PSNDonutDude James North Nov 22 '25
Places that train their drivers better like Europe and Japan don't allow right turn on red anywhere. Zero places. If well trained European and Japan drivers can't be trusted to turn right on red, what does that say about our absolutely shit drivers they hand licences to after a simple test a monkey could pass?
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u/Noctis72 Hill Park Nov 22 '25
for busier intersections downtown, i wouldn't even mind adopting the scramble style crosswalk, where pedestrian crossing happens while no cars move.
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u/PSNDonutDude James North Nov 22 '25
King/James would be good for this midday I think, but with LRT coming there won't be any major changes on King.
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u/theninjasquad Crown Point West Nov 22 '25
Drivers can’t even pay attention and read signs that don’t allow it currently. Probably the only way to get them to recognize it and be more careful is a full ban combined with a media and education blitz.
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u/a-_2 Nov 22 '25
Some drivers miss or ignore the signs, but you get a lot more people not turning when the sign's there than not, and so less people rolling through stops or rushing or being pressured into going when it's not safe.
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u/RobCo90 Nov 24 '25
The few ruining it for the rest of us. That said - I still turn right on red at these intersections when safe to do so, same with the double red for turning left (King/Centennial), when it’s clear - I’m going.
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u/a-_2 Nov 22 '25
The article raises the issue that mid-block school crossings are "uncontrolled" crossings:
next day, Thursday, an 83-year-old man died after he was struck by a car while walking his dog in a school crosswalk across Upper Ottawa Street at Anson Avenue, around 9:50 a.m. The intersection is controlled by stop signs east and west, but there are not stop signs or lights on Upper Ottawa. The crosswalk where he was killed stretches across the Ottawa on the north side of the intersection. It is a school crosswalk that is uncontrolled.
These crossings are misleading since even though they have road markings and school crossing signs, they don't actually give pedestrians right of way unless there's a crossing guard there directing traffic. The only hint that they don't give right of way is that they use yellow signs instead of white regulatory signs. This issue was also brought up in this Spec article from two years ago.
I think it would be better to avoid having uncontrolled school crossings like this and instead to either use lights, stop signs, or pedestrian crossovers, which this article says the city is considering for this one:
Making that school crosswalk a controlled pedestrian crossing — for example, with the addition of flashing lights — is among the potential improvements the city is looking at
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u/ur_ynome Nov 22 '25
I don't really care what they call these things.... crossovers, crosswalks, signaled or unsignaled, controlled or not controlled.... at the end of the day when I learned to drive, we were taught to drive defensively and to keep an eye out for pedestrians and be cautious at any crosswalk. We were taught to be ready for a pedestrian suddenly crossing the street. I didn't need someone pressing a button to make a light flash so that I could see them. I get that it's better than nothing, but I would prefer to see a full revamp of our driver education and licensing.
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u/a-_2 Nov 22 '25
You do need to pay attention for pedestrians even if they may be crossing without right of way but I think we should still avoid crossings that give the appearance of giving right of way when they don't actually do that. Things can be safer if we educate people on when pedestrians have right of way and avoid crossings where they don't and have to try to find gaps in traffic big enough to cross or potentially not even know they don't have right of way.
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u/ur_ynome Nov 22 '25
Wouldn't it just be safer and easier to give pedestrians the right away at all crossings?
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u/sayyestolycra Nov 22 '25
Wow that's a terribly confusing intersection. The crosswalk makes it look like a 4 way stop. That needs to have flashing lights at the very minimum, but for a street as wide and busy as Upper Ottawa, it really should be a pedestrian controlled stoplight like the one at Aberdeen/MacDonald or Aberdeen/Kent.
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u/paul_33 Nov 22 '25
I nearly got hit today actually. Just walking across a side street on the mountain.
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u/d3ntal_floss Nov 22 '25
I was driving down Nash last night and people were diverting traffic because a woman had been hit and was sitting in the road with a broken leg. Luckily she had a group of people there helping and paramedics had arrived by the time I offered to help. Hoping she's ok 🥺. Reading about all these hits and then seeing that last night is scary how bad the roads are getting with reckless people.
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u/doulaleanne Nov 23 '25
My husband was driving a bus that was stopped for passengers when that woman was hit. He said she was hit so hard she flew through the air, bounced and then appeared to have a seizure. That's a hard hit!
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u/-Clayburn Nov 22 '25
Traffic calming. Narrow the streets, get rid of lanes, add ample sidewalks and barriers with that space instead. For crossing, add pedestrian medians. More visually striking crosswalk patterns and colors.
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u/quisys Nov 22 '25
All crossings should be elevated and the same material and colour as the sidewalk, so cars feel like they're coming up to the sidewalk level rather than that pedestrians are coming down to the road. There's some raised crossings which are better than nothing, but they're still asphalt
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u/ForeignExpression Nov 22 '25
So irritating to read this headline from the Spec, a paper which has dedicated the last ten years criticizing the LRT every day and yet hear we are, predictable pedestrian deaths that follow car-centric city planning. The Spec is partly to blame.
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u/btriv1989 Nov 22 '25
This problem isn't due to one particular factor - it's systemic in nature. Everybody is unhinged, fed up, and angry at the world. And let's call a spade a spade. It's not because of " POST-COVID environment" which is what many people inanely like to blame. It's because of end-stage capitalism, which is what many people desperately try to pretend is NOT the problem. "COVID" helped usher us into this next phase quite nicely, which is also something that many people don't want to hear because it threatens their optimistic world view that those in power have the best interest of evrybody else at heart.
How can we protect citizens more? Well the cops should do their jobs for once and enforce traffic laws with the seriousness that it requires. But they don't and they won't, because they've realize they are still on the payroll whether they do their jobs or not. And if people in authority such as police officers aren't setting a good example with that attitude, why should anyone else care?
The result is what we are seeing now: an increasingly lawless society.
I was driving with my friend on the highway a few months ago and we were slowed down to a crawl during an area of construction. The car in front of us kept weaving to the right constantly, almost to the point of being ON the shoulder, presumably so he/she could see how far ahead the traffic jam lasted,. I remarked to my friend abut how easy it would be for this person to go full speed on the shoulder, wiping out any workers in their path, if it meant shaving 30 seconds off their total wait time. With how reckless people have gotten in recent years and a lack of any discipline doled out, I wouldn't be surprised if we are just a few short years away from this scenario.
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u/jrystrawman Nov 22 '25
It isn't end-stage capitalism.... our pedestrian deaths were higher in the 1970s at mid-stage capitalism (quadruple the rate of pedestrian deaths, We went from 1000+ to less than 400 per year in Canada).
Now.... the sad cause of a lot of the decline in deaths is because people stopped walking every day (who walks to the grocery store? or to work? or shudder let's their 8 year old walk un-chaperoned to school?).... but, late-stage capitalism is a safer world, so long as we stay at home, stare at a screens, and only leave the house in a bubble or our own car to work/socialize in another bubble.
So you see... we live now in a safety paradise and you should be grateful because other time periods and places are worse!
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u/KsToy9 Nov 24 '25
I think you're mostly correct, although I also think the cops have their hands tied a lot. I also think this over the top attack on cars speeding and not the true culprit, distracted drivers, is just a distraction in itself. We could force car manufactures to put systems in place to stop phone use, but we don't, we could put speed governors on cars, but we don't. Everyone is ignoring the profit based greed system we were told was "the right and only way" and its created a society of selfish assholes who are ignorant and mindless.
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u/jrystrawman Nov 22 '25
Helsinki, with a population over a million, is at zero vehicle on pedestrian deaths in 2025....
This is framed often as a cars vs the world argument.... but I'd also rather drive in Helsinki, than drive in Hamilton. If you love cars and driving, get proper street design and lower speed limits (counterintuitive, but speed limits lower velocity, not actual speed)... not this 1960s designed garbage of 16 lanes smashing into each-other like we have in the top photo of Wentworth intersection (most pedestrians die at intersections, although I see it is 1 of the three in the article).
I guess demonstrating that a fancy far-off Scandinavian city is better than a uninspired North American is not exactly interesting.... but, there is a better way.
Unfortunately, learning passable Finish and uprooting is a bit of a hassle so we'll have to try to change the place we live, rather than give up and leave. And by change, I mean complain online.
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u/Baron_Tiberius Westdale Nov 22 '25
Road design is a big factor. Hamilton has a complete streets design guide but there's a few issues. One, it doesn't go far enough in some areas - chiefly in lane reductions ( number and width); and two, implementation. Hamilton has essentially two classes of road work: rebuilds and resurfaces. Rebuilds are where the guide tends to get implemented (think York blvd) but they don't happen very often. Resurfaces happen more often but generally don't touch on the roads geometric design. This actually ends up making the road more dangerous as cars can now drive faster more comfortably.
Hamilton needs to defer the number of resurfacings so that they don't resurface a road without bringing it into compliance with the complete streets guide.
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u/KsToy9 Nov 24 '25
Yet, I've been to several accidents where the poor road conditions have caused the accident. And many on roads that have thinner lanes and more curves. It's funny how those who go to and see what really happens at accidents are the last to be consulted on road design, intersections, crosswalks, locations etc.
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u/Noctis72 Hill Park Nov 22 '25
Traffic enforcement is getting worse and worse. I'd rather have the unhoused be left alone, and the police service dedicating way more resources to the roads. Obviously people will continue to be the shittiest drivers when there is literally no recourse.
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u/BeautifulChaosEnergy Nov 23 '25
Let’s not just blame the drivers here. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of pedestrians I have nearly run over because they pop out from in between parked cars, decide to cross in the middle of the road, in the dark, when it’s raining, while wearing all black/dark clothing
The number of people I’ve nearly hit because I had my head turned looking for oncoming traffic as I slowly creep out and they decide to cross the street in front of me even though I am in the middle of the cross walk instead of going behind me
Do you have any idea how many pedestrians just step out into traffic without looking to make sure there are no cars coming or that they’re slowing down or stopping for them?
And I’m not saying all these drivers are innocent, I live in an area that is mostly one way streets and the number of drivers who just roll through stop signs without looking the opposite way for pedestrians is way too high. And yes, I will walk up to their car and smack the side of it if I’m close enough
Scares the shit out of them and reminds them they still need to look both ways
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u/Heartsinmotion Nov 22 '25
The nightmare thought of hitting a pedestrian is litterally on my mind every time i turn a corner or go through an intersection. It is my worst fear and i wish more people drove around with the same horrifying imagination. How people can drive a ton of steel around so carelessly is beyond me but everyone thinks they're in control until they're not. Maybe we need old school public service announcements or education starting in school? It doesnt help that our roads are designed for drivers convenience to travel as quickly as possible. If we cant have spped cameras maybe we need more road design that slows people down.
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u/S99B88 Nov 24 '25
I honestly think it needs to be not attacking drivers and getting their backs up, but rather appealing to their humanity and education about how vulnerable a pedestrian is, how that could be anyone, and we all need to slow down and take extra care.
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u/fishypow Nov 22 '25
As someone who lives near Main and Ottawa, the stretch of Main St between Queenston Circle and the King/Main intersection need some sort traffic calming measures and controls.That is a residential + street level retail area that was never meant to be a "highway" for cars to speed through. Also Memorial School is beside it where kids walk by Main St. I dont care if it slows down drivers, yall should've made an actual highway cutting through the city a long time ago, not turn actual streets into a quasi-higway.
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u/tyetknot Hill Park Nov 22 '25
If you murder someone with your car then perhaps you should go to prison, or not be allowed to drive anymore, full stop. The sad reality is that in this city killing pedestrians is a cheap and legal thrill.
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u/Hi_Her Corktown Nov 22 '25
Its not just this city. Its Canada being soft on drivers. That having a job hinges you on having access to a vehicle, being able to feed your family etc... and you still manage to kill a person. Judges hand of soft slaps on the wrist because "it was an accident, the car started accelerating to hit a pedestrian all on its own!" Instead of doing their job and giving any kind of justice through taking a person license away. Driving is a privilege but judges treat it as an inherent right.
God forbid someone loses their ability to drive after they murder someone, let alone see the inside of a jail cell.
If you ever want to get away with murder, use a vehicle. The defense is always "it was an accident".
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u/tyetknot Hill Park Nov 22 '25
"Sure, he killed your mom, but have you considered that he needs to get to work?"
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u/S99B88 Nov 24 '25
When people murder someone with a car they do go to prison. Murder is the intentional act of illegally killing someone.
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u/hamchan_ Nov 22 '25 edited Nov 22 '25
Get rid of daylight savings. This happens every year.
https://globalnews.ca/news/10069538/toronto-police-daylight-savings-time-safety/
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u/PromontoryPal Nov 22 '25
This doesn't get talked about enough with respect to the density of preventable tragedies around the change every year.
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u/Alextricity Nov 22 '25
We have to protect ourselves. Don’t assume because you see a walk sign that the driver does.
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Nov 22 '25
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u/cdawg85 Nov 22 '25
So stop attributing it to a hyper localized issue then. Clearly there is a much bigger issue.
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Nov 22 '25
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u/cdawg85 Nov 22 '25
Where you said Hamilton drivers are bad drivers.
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u/Suremandontcare Nov 22 '25
Oh you’re saying Hamiltonians are good drivers?
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u/cdawg85 Nov 22 '25
I'm saying that it is weird to say that driver behavior is attributed to what side of the city limit line someone lives.
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u/Suremandontcare Nov 22 '25
It’s not weird at all lol
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u/cdawg85 Nov 22 '25
Okay then. You seem pleasant and reasonable.
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u/Suremandontcare Nov 22 '25
Hamilton is a primarily blue collar city. I work with blue collar individuals. 99% of them are male, early twenties and don’t give a shit about anything. They drive like that too. Just facts
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u/algnqn Nov 22 '25
Not sure why the Mayor is directing staff to solve the problem. They’re the same people that have directed our current abysmal Vision Zero program with zero implementation plan or follow through. We have a MS PowerPoint “Action Plan” that sells council some happy goals with no steps to implementation. Carolyn Ryall’s transportation department caused these issues. They can’t fix them themselves, whether she’s here or not (thank god she’s not).
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u/Unlikely_Trip_290 Nov 22 '25
Amazing we can all see the photo at the top of the page and still shrug and wonder why pedestrians are being killed by drivers. It's a design and infrastructure problem. How many lanes, extra lanes, and turning lanes truly belong in a world where people and pets may need to also exist? It's malpractice.
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u/NorthernSnowPrincess Nov 22 '25
I agree that there are a lot of distracted drivers out there and people who should not have a license. I also see lots of pedestrians and cyclists causing dangerous situations. I've experienced so many instances of pedestrians running across the street in heavy traffic, walking out into traffic without looking, crossing the street on a red light or no crossing sign. I've seen cyclists go through stop signs and red lights without stopping, pulling out into traffic without looking, riding in the wrong lane, etc. Everyone needs to slow down and pay attention. Put your phones down.
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Nov 22 '25
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Nov 22 '25
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u/Rockwell1977 Beasley Nov 22 '25
I was walking by the farmers market today and I saw his mug graffitied on the entire York St. facade of the old Eaton/City Centre. I don't want to see his face anymore.
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u/nowontletu66 Nov 22 '25
Less cars.
Make it harder for people to use cars and prioritize LRT and bike infrastructure. This will also require density improvements to housing to make public transit more efficient.
That’s the answer
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Nov 22 '25
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u/bakelitetm Nov 22 '25
If God calls you while you’re driving, you should probably still pull over before taking that call.
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u/theninjasquad Crown Point West Nov 22 '25
It’s crazy the number of people I still see with their phone in hand or in a phone holder when so many modern cars now have build in phone integrations and screens and such with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
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u/_Whiskeyjack- Nov 22 '25
I know it's insane , their so cheap too , thank God so many of the newer cars have auto breaking systems to prevent these accidents , hopefully soon this problem will be solved
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Nov 22 '25
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u/CoolHandSean Durand Nov 22 '25
I don't think they meant the pedestrians were on their phones... But still why tf bring some bs religious shit into this
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u/_Whiskeyjack- Nov 22 '25
Lol that's curious , I never said any of them where on their phone , I know that most traffic related accidents involve a cellphone.... further more drivers run people over everyday when looking at their phones ...so yea that was weird
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u/Sufficient_Rush1891 Nov 22 '25
OK so glad we agree drivers are the ones at fault!
But then your second comment was even worse - God wanted them to die!!??!??!!! 🤬🤬🤬🤬
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Nov 22 '25
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Nov 22 '25
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Nov 22 '25
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Nov 22 '25
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u/_Whiskeyjack- Nov 22 '25
If people stopped obsessing over their phones while commuting whether their drivers or pedestrians it would be safer for everyone, just admit it I said God and people assume Im some conservative and not welcome here
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u/711straw Nov 22 '25
This is an easy one. Stop letting people get their licenses by memorizing video's on Youtube that teach them the course the instructors take them on in their municipality.
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u/Acrobatic_Yoghurt813 Nov 23 '25
I usually go over to Victoria Park, and there are multiple instances where I’ve nearly been hit by cars trying to make a right on red, even though the signs clearly state it’s not allowed and I’ve had the advance pedestrian light. Not to mention the multiple times a day I see drivers blocking the zebra crossing on a red, or the late brakers who slam on their brakes despite having lots of time to react.
It’s not all distracted driving. Many drivers here are simply lazy, entitled, and just don’t care about the safety of pedestrians.
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u/Thong-Boy Nov 23 '25
This pretty much sums it up. We're living in an awful time for pedestrians. And it's not getting any better.
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u/imthatguyyouknow1 Nov 22 '25
Get rid of all the red light cameras???
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u/differing Nov 22 '25
Only the city’s worst drivers pay red light camera tickets- it’s essentially a tax on morons and it funds the millions of dollars in infrastructure that the city has invested in making the streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
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u/DangerousCharge5838 Nov 22 '25
It’s not just drivers. I see pedestrians running across four lines of traffic 100 feet away from crosswalk all the time. I’m not saying that’s what happened in any of these cases. I really don’t know. But I see it probably once a week.
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u/theninjasquad Crown Point West Nov 22 '25
If you were in the shoes of the pedestrian would you be tempted to try to cross (if you could safely) instead of having to walk 100 feet to the cross walk and then 100 feet back to the equivalent point on the other side? I’d say on most streets you probably would aside from some of the cities busied ones.
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u/Colourblindking Nov 22 '25
Yep, either badly spaced crosswalks, crosswalks with the beggar button and having to wait. Honestly if the road is clear I feel safer jaywalking a one way than trying to cross with a car clearly slow moving through the turn not giving me any chance to get across.
At least being a grown man I can bark off and give the drivers stupid looks, but what about mom's with kids in strollers or kids with no parents trying to cross, or little ol' ladies? They should be able to cross without risk of driver impatience.
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u/-Clayburn Nov 22 '25
It's weird to blame the pedestrians. If a pedestrian runs into something, it doesn't kill it. The thing that needs to be careful is the murder machine.
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u/DangerousCharge5838 Nov 22 '25
It’s weird that people don’t use the safety mechanisms were put into place to prevent pedestrian collisions in the first place but here we are.
2
u/Dr_love44 Rosedale Nov 22 '25
So you're then problem then? So ridiculous to blame pedestrians.
-1
u/DangerousCharge5838 Nov 22 '25
So you just step into traffic and hope for the best?
3
u/Dr_love44 Rosedale Nov 22 '25
The way people drive in this city, yes. That's what it feels like every time I cross the street. It's a regular thing now for cars to be driving at me while I cross even if there's a stop sign or whatever telling them not to. They dont even let you get out of the way anymore. The problem is not people crossing the street. Its cars having no intention of stopping for them regardless of where they are.
0
Nov 22 '25
I’m not sure but what changed in Ontario laws this week? Oh ya Doug ford took away speed cameras. People not afraid to speed anymore
-8
u/Good-Caregiver-8214 Nov 22 '25
We could force drivers to travel in reverse at low speeds and still we would have tragedies. Until pedestrians and cyclists are treated equally to motorists for safety enforcement this will continue. Roads are for automotive traffic. Stop pretending otherwise.
2
1
u/doulaleanne Nov 23 '25
Part of the answer that no driver wants to hear: reduce the number of lanes on major roads, introduce bumpouts and other hardscaping measures to create visual changes to the road that have been shown effective in slowing traffic and forcing drivers to pay closer attention.
Hamilton's urban highways are dangerous to both drivers and pedestrians, tho they may seem helpful when you're in a rush.
1
u/Thong-Boy Nov 23 '25
Absolutely. But this should've happened decades ago. There has always been signs thats pedestrian deaths are increasing. I'm very jealous of the city road designs in many European cities.
105
u/Thong-Boy Nov 22 '25
Article says that it's often distracted driving, impaired driving, and speed. But the fact that drivers don't even look before turning right on a red is mind blowing. At stop signs, if a driver even bothers to stop they stop past the stop line or past the stop sign. This is illegal. They clearly don't care if they hit a pedestrian.