By Amara Janssens
Photos by Mark Burnham
Pedestrians and cyclists have a higher rate of injury and fatality than drivers and passengers
In a time when everyone is being asked to reduce their carbon footprint, British Columbians are often urged to use modes of transportation other than driving. However, according to a new study by a health science researcher at Simon Fraser University, driving is in fact a safer mode of transportation over walking or biking in BC. Dr. Meghan Winters, an associate professor in the faculty of Health Sciences, studied the different injury and fatality rates for various modes of transportation.
The study found that pedestrians and cyclists had a higher rate of injury and fatality than drivers an passengers. Additionally, walking and cycling shared a similar risk rate. Dr. Winters explained, “Some people talk about bikers and pedestrians being vulnerable road users, and our data certainly confirms that they were vulnerable road users.”
According to a public safety bulletin by the BC Coroner Service, 221 pedestrians have been killed in this province from 2008–2012. Fatalities most often occurred during lunchtime and peak commuting times in the morning and afternoon, and in intersections. Additionally, seniors “aged 70 or over were at a significant higher risk than those in younger age groups,” the bulletin stated.
Although more people are killed each year as vehicle occu- pants, that figure does not indi- cate the risk level with this mode of transportation. “When you look at the numbers you see that more people are killed each year as drivers and passengers, but that is burden, and doesn’t talk about risk,” Dr. Winters explained.
Dr. Winters compared traffic injury and fatality rates between Canada and other similar coun- tries, like the United States, the Netherlands and Belgium. “What we found was that the crude traf- fic fatality rate in Canada is much higher than it is many other coun- tries, one of these being the Netheerlands, which we found to have the lowest rates.”
The findings indicate that Canada could drastically improve traffic safety since other similar countries have much safer rates. According to Dr. Winters, if traffic fatality rates for walking, cycling and biking from the Netherlands are applied to BC data, “we would in fact reduce traffic fatalities by 200 per year, which is a reduction about half of the current traffic fa- talities we are currently seeing,” she explained.
The risks of walking, biking and driving in British Columbia were very similar to data from the United States, and were all shown to have a moderate level of risk. Dr. Winters’ team examined the risk of other modes of transpor- tation in the United States, and applied those findings to Canada. “We can assume that transit travel and motorcycle travel is not substantially different.”
Motorcycle and public transit were found to have drastically different risk levels than the other modes. When compared to biking, walking and driving, “Transit travel was about 25 times safer than any of the other modes in terms of risk for injury and fatality,” Dr. Winters concluded.
However, there was a significant increase in risk with motorcycle travel, which “was 20 to 25 times more dangerous than the other modes,” Dr. Winters found. “It is an extremely dangerous choice . . . the data certainly confirms that motorcycle travel is not the safest way to do that, by far.”
Although the study found that there is moderate risk asso- ciated with walking and cycling, Dr. Winters does not recommend British Columbians give up these activities. “The physical benefits of walking and cycling far outweigh the injury risk.”
When asked what mode of transportation she would recom- mend, Dr. Winter’s replied, “The clear answer is public transit . . . [it] is both safe and it’s been shown that people walk more who use public transit, so it’s healthy as well.”
There are many reasons why traffic is safer in other countries than it is in Canada. For example, in many European countries, the cities are designed for walking and cycling, making driving more cumbersome.
“The Netherlands has extensive pathways that are separated from traffic, so that will reduce your traffic injury and fa- tality rate, certainly,” Dr. Winters explained. Additionally, Europe does not see the same amount of large vehicles as seen in North America, which play a role in traffic injuries and fatalities.
Dr. Winters recommends that municipalities, “provide separation from motor vehicle traffic,” as is done in Europe. She also recommends that individuals take responsibility to reduce risk while walking and cycling, such as wearing bright clothing, or reflective vests at night. Additionally, the BC Coroners Service suggests pedestrians stay alert, and to not assume that a crosswalk or green light makes you safe.
