What will it take to stop the carnage on Ottawa streets?

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The primary problem in Ottawa, and many other cities, lies in the design of roads, Attrell says, explaining that too many roads are designed for drivers to go faster than the speed limit.

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“If the speed limit is going to be set at 60,” he says, “the roads are designed to be perfectly safe for people driving faster than 60. That’s intended to give drivers a buffer so that, if they make small mistakes, it’s not consequential for them. But what ends up happening is that drivers go faster than the speed limit.”

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Rob Attrell, a member with the Ottawa section of Vision Zero, says reducing speed limits would help lower the casualty rate for vulnerable road users, but it’s better if it’s done in co-ordination with other traffic-calming measures. Photo by Ashley Fraser /POSTMEDIA

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Would reducing speed limits help?

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Reducing speed limits does help, Attrell says, but it’s better if it’s done in co-ordination with other traffic-calming measures, such as speed bumps, protected intersections or, ideally, redesigned roadways. The goal would be to make roads narrower, perhaps by installing curb extensions, reasoning that, if it’s more challenging to navigate a road, drivers tend to slow down and pay attention.

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Why do so many collisions happen on roads like Strandherd, Merivale and Greenbank roads?

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Ottawa has a preponderance of “stroads,” which is an urban-planning term for “street-road” hybrids that are trying to do two things at once, according to Attrell.

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“They’re trying to be a transportation corridor, but they’re also a way for people to drive to local destinations, like laneways or shops or parking lots, which is much slower,” he says, adding that Vision Zero advocates for better planning with new roads and redesigning old ones.

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A pedestrian was hit near the intersection of Besserer and Friel streets in Ottawa on Oct. 15. A senior, she died days later. Photo by Jean Levac /POSTMEDIA

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Aren’t vehicles designed to be safer these days?

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Modern vehicles are designed to be safer, but that design often comes as a bigger, heavier vehicle with wide metal frames that make occupants feel more protected, but obstruct sightlines. In higher SUVs and big pickup trucks, the driver can see further down the road, but sometimes not right in front of the vehicle.

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“If a small child or even just a regular-(sized) adult is right in front of you, you can’t see them nearly as well,” Attrell says, adding that “traffic (collisions) are getting safer for the drivers and for passengers, but not for the people or cyclists outside the car.”

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Should police do more traffic enforcement?

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Dangerous behaviours like stunt driving and distracted driving require constant enforcement.

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“You can go out to any street right now and just watch people, especially at intersections, where they might be stopped for a few seconds,” Attrell says. “You will see distracted driving going on all the time, not just when people are stopped, but all the time.”

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If you have a cellphone in your hand while driving, be warned that you could get a hefty ticket.

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A first-offence, distracted-driving ticket carries an out-of-court fine of $615, plus three demerit points and a three-day licence suspension. The fine can go up to $1,000 in court, and even more upon subsequent offences.

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Until city hall finds the budget to redesign our stroads, what can Ottawa residents do to curb the carnage?

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Slow down, put the phones away and leave earlier to get to your destinations. “It’s as simple as leaving a few minutes earlier to get somewhere,” Attrell says. “Everyone wants to be on time for things, so, if you’re even five minutes late, you think you can make it up by going 10 or 15 or 20 kilometres and hour over the limit.

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“It’s just natural behavior, but I would encourage people to just leave five minutes earlier. It’s also okay to be five minutes late if it means that the people around you on the roads are going to be safer.”

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