From the City of Ottawa
This week Road Safety Week (May 16 – 22) is being recognized all over Canada. Warmer weather is officially here, and this means an increase in pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and e-scooter users on our roads. These are important transportation options for all of us – but leave those road users vulnerable when interacting with vehicles.
Vulnerable road users have a significantly higher risk of fatal or major injury when there are vehicular collisions on our roads. Of all fatal and major injury collisions:
25% involve pedestrians
14% involving motorcyclists
10% involving cyclists
More than half of fatal and major injury collisions occur at or very near to intersections. No matter how you’re getting around this spring, please be extra vigilant at intersections:
Make full stops at stop signs and red lights – no rolling stops.
Never stop your car or motorcycle in crosswalks as it forces pedestrians into traffic.
Always use your signals and look for other road users in all directions before completing your turn.
Left-turning drivers should check diligently for pedestrians after opposing traffic has cleared and always pay close attention to the travel speeds of nearby motorcyclists
When on two wheels, always ride defensively as vehicles can’t always see you clearly.
Looking out for other road users, especially children walking or biking, can mean the difference between life and death – and no destination is more important than that.
As part of Road Safety Week, the Ottawa Police Service will be increasing their traffic enforcement and communication efforts across the city. They are adopting an integrated enforcement model where they use intelligence-led deployments of several units working together at high collision intersections and areas of interest provided by the public. Traffic complaints can be reported through the OPS traffic complaint page.
We also rely on your help to ensure road signs and signals are in proper working order at all times. If you notice damaged or non-functioning equipment, please call 3-1-1 as soon as you can.
To learn more about the City’s Road Safety Action Plan, and the many initiatives getting underway this year to increase road safety, please visit Road Safety Action Plan | City of Ottawa