In a record year for pedestrian deaths, here’s what Calgary can learn from other cities

It’s been a deadly year on Calgary’s streets.

On the evening of Nov. 21, a woman in her 30s was crossing Macleod Trail outside of a marked crosswalk when a driver struck her while going through a green light. The pedestrian was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries and died five days later.

That marked Calgary’s 14th pedestrian fatality this year.

It’s the highest number of pedestrian deaths on Calgary Police Service records, which date back to 1996. According to police, it’s a death toll only seen once before, in 2005.

“These are needless deaths that do not have to happen,” said Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, an emergency physician and professor at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health.

Francescutti has been pushing to reduce fatalities and injuries on Alberta’s roads for decades, and he said there are lessons Calgary could take from other jurisdictions as deaths climb here.

“Have other countries solved this problem? Well, the answer is pretty much yes,” he said.

Francescutti points to countries in Europe — including Norway, Finland and Sweden — as proof that pedestrian deaths can be reduced or avoided altogether.

In 2019, for example, both of Norway and Finland’s capital cities saw zero pedestrian fatalities.

And again recently, Helsinki went another year without a single pedestrian fatality. The EU Urban Mobility Observatory attributed that milestone in part to 30 km/h speed limits, redesigned streets, and reliable public transit that has reduced dependence on vehicles.

For Francescutti, those countries’ emphasis on stronger traffic enforcement and education could make a major difference in Calgary. He said the situation could change almost overnight if that became the top priority for the Calgary Police Service.

“You need to have every man and woman in uniform, and not in uniform, laying down the law, saying, ‘If you’re going to drive in Calgary, there’s certain ways we expect you to drive. And if you don’t drive that way, you’re going to get penalized,’” he said.

“And the revenue from that can be put into hiring more officers to do more traffic [enforcement].”

Here in Canada, Toronto has significantly reduced its pedestrian deaths over the past decade.