Yesterday’s pedestrian safety dossier in La Presse seems to have launched the issue into the public spotlight. Today, the Gazette reported that the SPVM’s response to the 24 pedestrian deaths we saw in 2007 will be to crack down even more on jaywalking, which is blamed for 50 percent of pedestrian fatalities. The police already issues 8,000 tickets for jaywalking last year and they promise to hand out even more in 2008.
While the police are only doing their jobs in enforcing the law, their approach to jaywalking often seems haphazard and opportunistic. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve seen people jaywalk en masse in front of a police crusier on Ste. Catherine or other busy streets; meanwhile, jaywalkers are often given tickets in front of metro stations, which is pretty much the pedestrian equivalent of a speed trap. Instead of cracking down on jaywalking, we need to learn from it: jaywalkers can tell us a lot about the design of our streets and how they should be improved.
Let’s take Côte des Neiges Road as an example. Between Queen Mary and the CPR tracks it functions as both a major commuter artery and a busy neighbourhood high street. Pedestrian traffic is high—extremely high on the stretch between Queen Mary and Édouard-Montpetit—but the quality of the pedestrian environment is absolutely atrocious. Sidewalks are too narrow, crosswalks are poorly marked and intersections are dangerous. Still, jaywalkers abound, and efforts should be made not to prevent them from crossing the street illegally but to design the street so that crossing it isn’t so unsafe. The improvements that could be made here are obvious: more mid-block crossings regulated by actual traffic lights; wider sidewalks with more street furniture; sidewalk bulb-outs at busy intersections; and narrower lanes to slow traffic.
This year, the city has committed to improving every single intersection along Côte des Neiges Road. Even then, though, there needs to be a radical change in the way that Montreal views the relationship between pedestrians and drivers. In some situations, like on downtown streets, jaywalking is inevitable, and it might actually be desirable, since it forces drivers to slow down and be aware. Narrow, congested streets that facilitate and encourage jaywalking, like Ste. Catherine, are safer than those that do not, like René-Lévesque. This is especially important since the risk of death when a pedestrian is hit by a car increases exponentially depending on the speed at which the vehicle was travelling.
For all of the fuss about safety in the streets, maybe it’s important to consider one thing: Montreal has the second-lowest number of traffic fatalities in North American, just behind Toronto. Clearly, despite our sometimes inadequate pedestrian infrastructure, aggressive drivers and unstoppable jaywalking habit, we’re aware of what is going on around us. That’s something to build on when we think of ways to improve our streets and intersections.
Photo by André Forget for the Globe and Mail
8 comments
One of the areas I hope they focus on is the INSANE crosswalk at the corner of Cavendish and Sherbrooke Street East.
You have roughly 10 seconds provided for your passage, and the residential area is made up primarily of seniors trying to get to the Provigo on the NE corner
A very thoughtful article. I also thought this targetting of pedestrians absurd. The first step should be to reduce speed limits and then enforce them. At the same time get serious about traffic- calming strategies (but has anyone ever seen Montréal serious about any strategy?)and proper crosswalks where cars actually stop.
I want to see safe crosswalks that actually work.
What precisely constitutes a crosswalk in Montreal?
Does it have to have flashing lights for drivers to be obligated to stop (or perhaps slow down enough to curse you out), like the flashing lights on Jarry x Boyer (no light, just a crosswalk), or do strong orange or white lines count?
I’ve been told some incredibly foul-mouthed things trying to cross in such places that are clearly marked as crosswalks but utterly disregarded by most.
A classic question-raising example would be the area marked with a little man walking sign, large stripes on the pavement (a few months of the year) at St-Laurent and Bagg. Is that a crosswalk ONLY when there is a school monitor on the corner with a little fluo vest and a hand-held stop sign (ie never) or is it a complete waste of paint and a sign?
That one at St-Laurent and Bagg a clever way of thinning out pedestrians. Years ago, Le Monde à bicyclette held an event there to underline its lack of safety and the utter lack of respect for it.
I can’t for the life of me understand why the light at the corner of Cavendish and Sherbrooke doesn’t provide a longer time for the elderly people there to cross safely. There are many such examples.
Here’s an idea: crosswalk traps! Like speed traps, but instead of hiding a copy to measure the speed of traffic versus the legal limit, hide one to see who stops for pedestrians. Offenders would be called in by the hidden officer and instructed to pull over by a cruiser further down the street.
its all about buisness like a mafia they just want more money like we dont pay enought taxes whatever…theres more serious stuff going on maybe they should take care about people that speed on the roads. . GIVE ME A BREAK with ur stupid red light crossing get a life!!
This can be taken too far. Look at the ridiculous system in Square-Victoria where the pedestrian light blocks traffic in ALL directions – even at 3 in the morning. Some intersections cars only have 10-15 seconds to go through.
Another problem is the arrows that let you go straight only. Most of the time this makes it harder for both pedestrian and driver, as the car can’t turn while the pedestrian is crossing from the other side of the street, when the car is allowed to turn is when the pedestrian finally arrives in the car’s path, meaning the pedestrian is pressured to move faster to get out of the car’s way and the car is pressured to get out of the way of the cars behind him that may want to go straight.
Bad system…
While we’re on the subject, a couple of other things:
Montreal should synchronize their traffic lights. On too many roads, you can only make the lights by driving 90km/h in a 50 or 20km/h in a 50.
And, to encourage driver respect, those pedestrian crossings should be protected by a red light that ONLY turns red when someone actually wants to cross.
So what happens if you decide to contest a $37 ticket? I got one today and it burns me up that no cars stop when I stand at the crosswalk at Cherier and St. Andre and yet I get a ticket in the west end.