Toronto police launch pedestrian safety campaign
Posted March 4, 2013 3:48 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – In an effort to improve safety, Toronto police are urging pedestrians to “Do the Bright Thing.”
Const. Hugh Smith said police are encouraging people to wear bright colours.
“About 80 per cent of the people here in the city are walking around with dark clothing,” he said.
“There’s no reflective material and nothing to really make them visible after dark.”
“The colour [black] itself — it is fashionable but it’s not the safest thing we can be wearing.”
Hugh adds that using your smartphone or listening to music can be dangerous, too.
“Sound is one of the big things that alerts us,” he said.
“Looking down at the palm of your hand. You’ve taken away all your vision.”
An average of 100 pedestrians have died in Ontario each year for the past three years.
According to Smith, 20 to 25 per cent of those pedestrian fatalities are in Toronto.
In Toronto, “we average somewhere around six or seven pedestrians struck per day,” he said.
