Fix St. John's crosswalks: safety group

An injury prevention group is calling for crossing signals that better protect pedestrians after an accident in St. John's hospitalized a woman on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old continues to recover from serious injuries after she was hit by a car as she followed a pedestrian signal on Elizabeth Avenue, near Churchill Square.

The accident happened when the driver, who also had a signal to advance, turned left into the crosswalk and hit the woman.

"When people see the carnage that's caused just because of a simple second of distraction or the fact that our government is more worried about drivers than they are about people crossing the street," said Jeanette Holman-Price, chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador chapter of the Injury Prevention Coalition.

"We need to get loud, we need to tell people we want change."

Holman-Price said she is meeting with government officials to lobby for safer pedestrian crossings that alternate between giving a green light to pedestrians only and then cars only.