Map of the Week: Pedestrian accidents

CHARLA JONES/TORONTO STAR

(July 11: The pedestrian and cycling accident maps worked fine on their own as embedded maps, but something about displaying them both on the same page made many browsers very unstable. They’re now linked below.)

Map: Pedestrian accidents, 2008

This week, we look at 2008’s pedestrian accidents. A total of 1,932 were reported to police last year.
Outside the downtown core, pedestrian accidents are concentrated on Eglinton between Brimley and Markham Rd., Sheppard between Kennedy Rd. and Warden, Yonge between Steeles and the 401, and Mount Pleasant south of Eglinton.

Here are the top eight intersections for pedestrian collisions:

9    BATHURST and KING
6    BLOOR and LANSDOWNE
5    CHURCH and JANE
5    COLLEGE and SPADINA
5    JANE and WILSON
5    KEELE and LAWRENCE
5    LAWRENCE and MARKHAM
5    STEELES and YONGE

For local areas, the map works best at the highest or second-highest magnification.

Nerd box:

The larger numbers involved forced a different presentation from last week’s bike collision map. This map only shows locations where two or more pedestrian accidents happened during the year, with circles of different sizes indicating the number.

I tried mapping all the accidents, but the map looked like this:

If you don't mind the visual clutter, a map showing single accidents is here.

It works best at the highest magnification and needs some patience, but does add new information. For example: Mount Pleasant between Roehampton (a block north of Eglinton) and Balliol (a block north of the cemetery) had 11 pedestrian accidents last year, or about one per 100 metres of roadway. Roncesvalles between High Park Boulevard and Queen also had more than I would have expected - eight, or one for every 112 metres of roadway.

What patterns do you see? Let us know in the comments.

Comments

[RD]

people are stupid, that's why so many happen.

Drivers still on cell phones while driving in rush hour traffic, and pedestrians (including runners and people on bikes) who want the right of way no matter what and not seeing drivers that are making a legitimate turn. If these jackasses smartened up you would see a drop in the number of accidents.

Oh by the way, I punched the back of one car at king and bathurst who wouldn't stop for on/off traffic from the streetcar and almost clipped me when I was trying to board. If the driver is reading this and remembers that day, I'm talking about jerk-offs like you.

[Adam]

I know why Bathurst & King is risky business because I work in the area. The advance green King St. W gets stops pedestrians on both sides on King from walking, but it goes against popular rules in that RIGHT turning drivers get the right of way as well during the advance signal. Coupled with the stress on drivers when the advance green is wasted by a streetcar, you get impatience which causes people to perform the "funeral procession" maneuver, where people will keep turning left long after the light has changed. A larger police presence at this intersection is needed.

[Liam Coleman]

A more cautious approach to electronic distractions like cellphones and MP3 players would help.

I have grabbed the jackets of iPod wearing pedestrians on a few occasions to keep them from getting struck by cars. They just dance right into oncoming traffic without looking around. Drivers with cell phones have been mentioned already.

Even when the lights are in the pedestrian's favour, motorists can be distracted or impatient enough to try getting through. A little more attention on everyone's part would help a lot.

[Pat T]

Bathurst and King is brutal because:
1) Numerous yuppies/yappies on Bberries, both on sidewalks and in their cars, in a hurry to get to work
2) unfriendly cycling space which causes many cyclists to ride the sidewalk in order to survive, confusing motorists and scaring pedestrians
3) southbound bathurst right lane is painted for one car but extra stream of right-turning cars sneak through onto King b/c it's extra wide
4) Chains of east-west streetcars cause annoyance to motorists as open doors block traffic at Bathurst, so motorists are extra impatient once light turns green
5) the advance green for eastbound traffic is ignored by pedestrians walking west on the south side - usually b/c an eastbound streetcar has held up traffic and so it seems safe to ignore
6)web of streetcar tracks in all four directions make pedestrians skittish and threaten cyclists
7) more insane cab drivers per square inch than any residential area

[Ian]

Maybe we should try a scramble intersection at King and Bathurst, like the one at Yonge and Dundas.

[Dylan]

It would be interesting to overlay pedestrian fatalities over this map. While there are more accidents in the downtown area, it's notable (from the city's accident fatalities reports) that there are more fatalities in the suburban areas - especially on the big arterials - probably due to the higher speeds at which cars are driving.

[HM]

Just reporting a bug: the 5 collision circle is the same size as the 2 collision one.

[Ian R]

Would appear that a common denominator is the presence of advance green lights - either peds not paying attention that there's an advance or drivers trying to beat the advance. Also many are big intersections with lots of peds and traffic. Density rules. Also, on foot, the faster you go the better your chances of not getting smacked.

[trikebum]

Quoting CHARLA JONES/TORONTO STAR:
"This week, we look at 2008’s pedestrian accidents. A total of 1,932 were reported to police last year."
...............and from Bike collisions map of the week:
This week, we map 1,068 bicycle accidents reported to Toronto police in 2008.

So... based on arguments why cyclists should wear helmets wouldn't the same arguments hold true for pedestrians? It sounds like walking is a riskier business.