Sudbury's driving culture creates hazardous environment for pedestrians, says resident
Ernst Gerhardt believes we can make streets safer by changing the car culture in the city
Greater Sudbury needs a culture shift to cut back on the number of pedestrian collisions in the city, a concerned residents say.
Ernst Gerhardt said he was shocked by how pedestrians were treated when he moved to Sudbury 10 years ago.
"We were on Brady and there was a little girl — probably about 8-years-old with her little brother," he recalled.
"Nobody was stopping for them and we stopped and they refused to cross, they were so scared."
Gerhardt said he moved houses because cars wouldn't stop to let his son cross the road to get to school.
Pedestrians are impacted by a car culture in the city, he told CBC News.
"Roads are designed with cars in mind first — and people walking in foot [come] second."
Sudbury police traffic constable John Coluzzi said people's driving habits can lead to problems for pedestrians.
"You get away running that red light today, you get away running that red light tomorrow, but one more day down the road you may not get that same chance to run that red light — and the result will be a collision involving another vehicle, a pedestrian."
Improve Sudbury signage?
Coluzzi said he'd like to see better signage in high traffic areas to warn drivers about the increased number of pedestrians.
His suggestion comes after the police service released the numbers of pedestrian collisions for the last five years. Though the numbers are down so far this year, there hasn't been much improvement in longer term trends.
And so far this week, there have been two collisions, including one yesterday afternoon on Mackenzie Street in the downtown.
Coluzzi said some drivers simply don't see pedestrians trying to cross.
"That's what it comes down to is, if we're going to make things more friendly for the pedestrians and safer for them, then it's notifying the drivers that they're approaching an area where they have to pay attention," he said.
Both drivers and pedestrians have the responsibility to keep the roads safe for everyone, he added.