Road safety groups urge review of pedestrian, cyclist deaths in crashes with larger vehicles

The Coalition to Reduce Auto Size Hazards is calling on Alberta’s chief medical examiner to examine the increasing deaths among pedestrians and cyclists.

Multiple Canadian road safety groups want to know if there’s a growing danger in Alberta to pedestrians, cyclists and the like from pickup trucks and large SUVs.

The Coalition to Reduce Auto Size Hazards (CRASH) says data from south of the border suggests a reason to look into it here.

CRASH is writing to Akmal Coetzee-Khan, Alberta’s chief medical examiner, asking for a review of deaths to see if there’s a correlation.

Doug Clark, president of Bike Calgary, says the review would be “the first step.” or “something to start the ball rolling.”

“If it turns out that sightlines are a key contributor—if people are saying, ‘Look, I just didn’t see that child in the crosswalk’—then can vehicles be modified so those sightlines are improved?” he told CTV News.

“Or maybe there’s the ability to use technology or cameras that will make it better.

“But the first step, of course, is identifying—is there a problem, and what is that problem?”

Clark says it’s “worth examining.”

“Pickup trucks and larger vehicles are just kind of a part of life in Calgary and certainly Alberta at large,” he said.

“You have to think to yourself, ‘What are we giving up? What are the potential unintended consequences of people loving bigger and bigger vehicles?’

“I think we’re starting to see that.”

CRASH says if review results support the concerns, it would want to see Coetzee-Khan make recommendations including:

• pushing the federal government to require the redesign of vehicle front-ends;
• pushing the federal government to require safety warnings in vehicle ads;
• pushing the provincial government to introduce new driver’s licence requirements for larger vehicles;
• pushing the provincial government to introduce sliding-scale registration fees based on vehicle danger;
• pushing the municipal government to levy parking fees based on vehicle size; and
• pushing the municipal government to review purchasing policies for service vehicles.

In a release issued Wednesday, CRASH offered a look at grim numbers.

Last year saw an 11-year high for pedestrian deaths in Calgary.

And the latest provincial statistics put Alberta traffic fatalities up 26 per cent between 2019 and 2023.

Major injuries on Alberta roads between 2019 and 2023 are up 18 per cent.

“We are confident that when people know the facts, including the greater fatality risks of pickups and large SUVs, we can begin a serious conversation about a safer way forward,” said Cheryl Villetard of Paths for People in Wednesday’s release.

CRASH is made up of Youth en Route, Bike Calgary, Bike Edmonton, YEG Bike Coalition, Bike Bus Alberta and Paths for People.