On July 15, 2009 at 7:00 pm in the Woodcroft community, a 13 year old male cyclist was critically injured when he was hit by a car. He suffered severe internal and head injuries. The cyclist was not wearing a helmet and was listening to an iPod at the time of the accident. Those of us in Woodcroft who have been working to reduce the speed and volume of traffic since 2006 have been bracing for the day when one of the children from our neighbourhood would be injured or killed in a traffic collision -- the question was only when and who. We knew as far back as 2006 when the City's Transportation and Streets Dept. conducted a traffic survey that there were 3,225 vehicles per weekday flowing by the very place where this child was injured. Of those 3,225 vehicles, 161 vehicles per weekday were going over 60 km/hr. Although the Transportation Dept. knew the situation of our roads there was nothing they could do because the numbers were not high enough to meet the National standards required for traffic calming.
Safe Kids Canada, a national injury prevention program of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, published in their Child Pedestrian Injuries Report 2007-2008 that "children are particularly vulnerable to pedestrian injuries because they are exposed to traffic threats that exceed their cognitive, physical, sensory and auditory development, and generally, boys are statistically more at risk than girls for all injuries". It goes on to say that children aged 10 - 14 years have the highest risk of pedestrian injuries and deaths and that "it is not unusual for pre-teens and teens to harbour exaggerated beliefs about their abilities and embrace an attitude of invincibility, which can lead to increased risk-taking." Given these facts--that children as pedestrians have certain developmental limitations and attitudes that can make them prone to being in an accident-- we need to take steps to make our communities safer for them.
Safe Kids Canada recommends a reduction in driver speed. "At speeds greater than 40 km/hr, both drivers and pedestrians have an increased potential for making mistakes in judging the time required to stop or cross the street safely, compounded by a driver's tendency to underestimate their speed. At a speed of 30km/hr, vehicles and pedestrians are able to co-exist with relative safety which means that drivers have sufficient time to stop for pedestrians, and pedestrians can make better crossing decisions. Lower traffic volumes can also result in a reduction of pedestrian injuries". They also recommend the use of roadside warnings to remind drivers when they are speeding as well as speed cameras and fines to enforce speed limits in residential areas. Their other recommendations are to encourage guided practice to teach child pedestrian safety and make communities more walkable. For the full report go to www.safekidscanada.ca.
It is time we heeded the advice of experts in traffic safety to prevent more of our children from being severly injured or killed because our residential traffic speeds are too high. The 13 year old Woodcroft cyclist would have sustained less severe injuries if he had been wearing a helmet and not an iPod but he also could have been saved by a lower speed limit of 30 km/hr versus the current 50 km/hr. Please contact our City Councilors and ask them to vote to lower the speed limit within residential communities to 30 km/hr. They will be voting on this issue in the fall. They can be reached by email at:
stephen.mandel@edmonton.ca
karen.leibovici@edmonton.ca
linda.sloan@edmonton.ca
ron.hayter@edmonton.ca
kim.krushell@edmonton.ca
tony.caterina@edmonton.ca
ed.gibbons@edmonton.ca
jane.batty@edmonton.ca
ben.henderson@edmonton.ca
bryan.anderson@edmonton.ca
don.iveson@edmonton.ca
amarjeet.sohi@edmonton.ca
dave.thiele@edmonton.ca
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That is very sad. Also, the big truck that was parked right by the exit out of Brentwood Homes was a huge problem. You could never see an oncoming trafic and office would never ask the guy to park his truck elsewhere. If the truck wasn't there the driver would have been able to see the kid and maybe the kid would be able to see the car as well. I hope he is ok. I know the driver of the car was very shaken and sad.
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