14 Pedestrians Killed In Toronto In Past 15 Days!

[doctor zaius]

Ouch. The high price we pay for car culture:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/755854--woman-dies-at-accident-scene

Check out the map of fatal auto accidents since Jan. 2008. Unbelievable:


http://www3.thestar.com/static/googlemaps/starmaps.html?xml=08collisions.xml

[jtollison78]

If they are anything like the pedestrians I see every night on teh Vegas strip, they were probably idiots. The no walk sign is there for a reason people. Wandering accross a 6 lane road against the signs and hoping the cars will slow down for you on a dark and cloudy night = darwin award. (I saw this 2 days ago. Guy would've been toast if car hadn't slowed down. Guy appeared to be a local and was not drunk, just dared the c ar to hit him.

This is one of my pet peeves because I walk faster than anyone else (-5 people in as many years), so I pass crowds of slow moving sheeple only to see them cross against the light, forcing cars to stop, and making me find my way around them again. Where's Barney Fife when you need a jaywalking citation issued?

[RMG]

I live in Burlington and this is big news with everyone trying to figure it out. While we have banned the use of any hand held device, the penalty phase kicks in Feb 1. This won't solve the entire problem and I think it will get worse. A great many pedestrians have their earplugs in listening to their ipods or are texting, E-mailing or talking on their PDAs and cell phones. A great many drivers are using devices in their cars, hand held or not. The combination is disastrous.

I am in the camp who would ban the use of all devices requiring active participation, hands free as well. Radios and passenger conversation are passive distractions, anything else is "active" and their use should be banned. Just my opinion.....

[doctor zaius]

I live in Burlington and this is big news with everyone trying to figure it out. While we have banned the use of any hand held device, the penalty phase kicks in Feb 1. This won't solve the entire problem and I think it will get worse. A great many pedestrians have their earplugs in listening to their ipods or are texting, E-mailing or talking on their PDAs and cell phones. A great many drivers are using devices in their cars, hand held or not. The combination is disastrous.

Yup, drivers and pedestrians both distracted by their electronic gadgets. Plus you have 6 million people trying to get to 6 million different places each and every day, all in a hurry, all criss-crossing paths.

[Leeshee]

Oh yea, I walk through the Chicago loop at both rush hours everyday. Both the Taxis and the pedestrians always think they have the right of way. Most taxi drivers talk incessantly on their cell phones and most pedestrians are fully engrossed in their conversations as well. The other day I saw a lady come within one second of being roadkill on the front of a bus because she was arguing on the phone. idgits.

[SabreKai]

BFD. So 14 people get offed by those nasty cars. In all cases one or the other, driver or pedestrian was doing something dumb. What do you expect in a city of 2.2 million, where the city keeps making it harder and harder for a car to get around? On the one hand it gives the idiot pedestrian a false sense of 'right' and on the other increases the blood pressure of the car drivers who are for ever being screwed over by that retard Miller and his council of socialist monkeys.

Sorry, I'm not impressed or annoyed by those stats. I'd like to see those numbers jump by a magnitude of a 100 or so. Then we'd have something to talk about.


Sabre

[MissMachinegun]

I see near-misses daily between vehicle/pedestrian. Vehicles being too impatient and trying to pass a bus in the oncoming lane without moving slowly to check for oncoming traffic, pedestrians crossing in front of the bus without peeking around the corner first, not even bothering to stop for a stop sign during rush hour and coming within hairs of hitting pedestrians and/or another vehicle, etc. Cellphones, ipods, etc are typically involved on one end, sometimes both.

I live in a college town (pop. 100,000, + 30,000 students), and our University here tells incoming Freshmen during orientation that it's perfectly acceptable to cross the street in front of oncoming traffic on campus, or so a student once told me. College is kind  of a pedestrian zone in and of itself, fair enough. The problem is, they carry that attitude OUTSIDE of campus. The cops here will ticket a pedestrian for jaywalking if s/he gets hit by a vehicle with right-of-way--but does it really matter who was at fault when someone's dead? And I'm really sick of the SUVs and trucks hauling around one effing passenger that don't even know how to command a vehicle that large properly. Have fun in LATOC, prick.

And you'd *think* the usual suspects were always those under 25, right? The middle aged have so far proven their driving abilities are no different than that of a 20 year old in my observances.

I am only surprised there aren't MORE fatal accidents.

[paland]

Just out of curiosity, were these Toyota's that hit these pedestrians?

[DNVRLIZ]

I live in Burlington and this is big news with everyone trying to figure it out. While we have banned the use of any hand held device, the penalty phase kicks in Feb 1. This won't solve the entire problem and I think it will get worse. A great many pedestrians have their earplugs in listening to their ipods or are texting, E-mailing or talking on their PDAs and cell phones. A great many drivers are using devices in their cars, hand held or not. The combination is disastrous.

I am in the camp who would ban the use of all devices requiring active participation, hands free as well. Radios and passenger conversation are passive distractions, anything else is "active" and their use should be banned. Just my opinion.....

I agree with you there. I mean what will be next to come out as far as devises ? GPS is also very bad, because people dont stop to read it they just read in and continue driving. Your eyes should never be off the road, using ear pieces makes no difference, you still have to look down on occasion. People just need to stop being in such a fucking hurry !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unless this is accomplished, nothing will change.

[shad]

I would jump in front of a car, if I had to live in Toronto.

with love from Vancouver.

[doctor zaius]

I would jump in front of a car, if I had to live in Toronto.

with love from Vancouver.

I'd jump in front of a car if I lived in Vancouver and had to pay the ridiculous housing prices. (with love from small town BC).

[aconsta383]

Same problems here in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.  I remember learning as a kid, "Cross on green, not in between" and several other pedestrian safety lessons.  Including the use of all the techno devices listed above, how freakin' difficult is it to look and go "oh, the red hand is lit...I'd better stop walking for a minute or so."  *slaps forehead, reaches for V8*