One Vancouver city councillor doesn’t think the city is safe enough to move around in and wants the provincial government to allow the installation of more red light and speed cameras.
Christine Boyle, who represents OneCity on council, says intersections she considers dangerous are ones where ICBC data says there have been more than 100 crashes that have left someone hurt or dead in the last five years. They are also those near schools where there have been more than 50 crashes within the same timeframe.
“Speed is a major safety issue in Vancouver,” said Boyle. “The crash, injury, and fatality numbers speak for themselves. We have a lot more that we need to do. Eighteen crash-related fatalities a year is not acceptable to me.”
She feels reducing speed benefits everyone, from pedestrians to cyclists to drivers.
“In Vancouver, over 50 per cent of all serious injuries and fatalities involving a motor vehicle are borne by people walking or cycling. In fact, 45 per cent of all pedestrian fatalities from car crashes are senior citizens,” she added.
Boyle, who has two children, admits she feels nervous when they go out.
“Right now, I am frequently accompanying my younger child and I look forward to the day when he is old enough and our streets are safe enough that he can walk to a friend’s house and I am not holding my breath and waiting to hear a confirmation that he got there safely,” she told CityNews.
There are more than 40 of these cameras already installed in the city, which Boyle says generate millions of dollars in revenue. She doesn’t know how much installing more than 100 new cameras would cost.
“I don’t have a dollar figure. I just know study after study has shown that they pay themselves off pretty quickly and it’s a very cost-effective intervention that has a huge public benefit.”
Boyle says she’s brought forward this motion now after the City of Victoria approved the same idea two months ago.
source & photo : CityNews
