By Catherine McKenney, Ottawa Citizen, November 27, 2019
Earlier this week, the city unveiled its third Road Safety Action Plan, setting a goal of reducing by 20 per cent fatal and major injury collisions in Ottawa by 2024. What does that mean for you if you drive, cycle or walk anywhere in the city?
Well, if we look at the numbers between 2014 and 2018, 137 people died on our streets, including 61 drivers, 18 passengers, 19 people on motorcycles, seven cyclists and 32 pedestrians. And this does not include catastrophic and life-changing injuries.
The goal of the new plan accepts that 110 deaths over four years by 2024 is inevitable. That is not the bold shift we need in 2019.
There are a lot of excellent measures proposed in the Road Safety Action Plan and many will lead to safer transit on our streets for everyone. I look forward to working with staff to see these measures implemented. However, accepting that road deaths are inevitable is where it doesn’t go far enough.
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/mckenney-any-traffic-death-is-one-too-many-ottawa-lets-adopt-vision-zero