Safety blitz on National Day of Remembrance

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RICHMOND (NEWS1130) – To mark the 5th annual National day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims, ICBC is launching a blitz aimed at keeping pedestrians safe as people from across the country are mourning the thousands of Canadians who die on the road every year.

The numbers are pretty staggering as nearly 2,000 Canadians die and 145,000 people are injured on our streets and highways every year.

In this province 2,700 people get hit by a car in this province every year.

Jill Blacklock with ICBC says most of those pedestrian crashes could be prevented.  “That’s whether the person behind the wheel is going to fast for the conditions or if a pedestrian thinks that they’ve been seen, nine times out of 10 there is something we could have done that would’ve changeg the outcome.”

It’s not all bad news because the rate of deaths on our roadways has dropped consistently over the last 60 years, but still six people die on our roads every day on average.

“Although the number of fatalities per 100,000 population has decreased over the last few years, the number of preventable and avoidable deaths due to motor vehicle crashes is still a significant public safety risk for Canadians.  We know that speed, drinking and driving, and distracted driving continue to present challenges on our roads and that collisions are a major cause of death especially for those between the ages of 5 to 34,” says Methusalah Kunuk, Chair of the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.

Today is about remembering the victims and raising awareness about road safety and with that in mind the Richmond Fire Department and ICBC will be at Lansdowne SkyTrain Station to launch the Fall Pedestrian Safety Campaign.

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