By Melinda Warren and Erin Eaton
The Toronto Police kicked off this season’s “STEP UP and Be Safe” pedestrian campaign Monday.
The campaign will run until Nov. 17, making an appearance at Humber’s north campus later this week.
Const. Mig Roberts from 23 Division told Humber News that there will be greater enforcement from police compared to other years, and they will be watching closely for pedestrians who are not crossing the road properly.
Roberts said the seasonal time change plays a role in the number of pedestrian incidences.
“I think what we have to pay attention to is daylight savings time. Collisions tend to go up because of the atmospheric changes and light changes -people are not ready for that hour difference. So that’s very very important to keep in mind,” Roberts said.
Here’s more from that interview:
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According to a news release by Toronto Police, pedestrian fatalities account for almost 50 per cent of annual traffic fatalities in the city of Toronto.
So far, 19 pedestrians have been killed this year by vehicles, 10 of which happened in the last two weeks.
Humber College has made efforts in trying to reduce the number of pedestrian incidents and fatalities in and around the college.
Pervez Ditta, director of public safety and risk management told Humber News that the college has implemented a new bus route taking effect in 2015/2016.
The route will aim to reduce the number of students crossing the road.
“Eighty to 82 per cent of our community actually comes by bus and bringing buses on campus will go a long way in making sure that vehicle traffic and pedestrian traffic will be kept not together,” said Ditta.
He said the presence of local police divisions in the Humber community also helps reduce the number of pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
“Off campus we are working with 22 and 23 division to make sure that they step up their patrols. So you will have more speed traps and more speed calming measures that we are undertaking to make sure people are driving at a safe speed so they can see pedestrians,” he said.
Here’s the interview with Humber security head Pervez in full:
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