October is Pedestrian Safety Month in Peel – a community partnership involving the City of Mississauga’s Road Safety Committee, Region of Peel and Ministry of Transportation. This provincially-recognized month raises awareness and proactively addresses pedestrian safety issues for all road users. The ultimate goal is to prevent collisions and deaths on the road in Mississauga. “We know from Peel Police that 47 per cent of all collisions between pedestrians and vehicles happen when drivers are making turns at intersections while pedestrians are crossing with the right-of-way. This is not only unacceptable but pre-ventable. We need to put an end to speeding and distracted, impaired and careless driving on our roads and in our com-munity,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “In collaboration with our communities and partners like Peel Regional Police, we’re taking action to keep all road users safe to reduce injuries and collisions on Mississauga roadways. We’re committed to achieving Vision Zero, which means no pedestrian fatalities on our roadways. Period.” In addition to this data, this year, there have been 31 colli-sions that occurred in Peel Region between a vehicle and pedestrian, resulting in death or serious injury – 16 of which happened in Mississauga.
As of September 1, 2018, penal-ties have increased for drivers who endanger pedestrians in Ontario. This includes higher fines and more demerit points for drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians at crossovers and any crosswalk with a school crossing guard present, as well as new penalties for drivers who are convicted of careless driving causing death or bodily harm. By adopting Vision Zero, the City has already begun imple-menting many road safety initiatives. These include reduc-ing speed limits in all neighbourhoods, implementing more traffic calming measures, installing additional pedestrian crossovers, ensuring more crossing guards are stationed in school zones and building new pedestrian and cycling facili-ties to improve connectivity. For more information about pedestrian safety, tips for pedes-trians, drivers and cyclists or other City road safety initiatives, visit https://web.mississauga.ca/services-and-programs/transportation-and-streets/traffic/.
