Police urge public to be careful amid spike in collisions involving pedestrians

CTV Toronto: 18 pedestrians hit by vehicles 24hrs Half of all the fatal collisions in Toronto involve pedestrians as victims. Tracy Tong takes a look at new numbers on collisions in the city

Police are warning members of the public to use caution in the wake of a dangerous day on the roads.

Toronto police responded to 90 person injury collisions on Thursday, including 18 that involved pedestrians.

As a result of the collisions, one person was killed and another sustained life-threatening injuries. The rest of the collisions resulted in non-life threatening injuries.

The spike in collisions coincided with a wet day in Toronto but Const. Clint Stibbe tells CP24 that weather did not play a significant role.

“Weather was a factor in some of these collisions but it wasn’t the main factor; it was a contributing factor. The main factor was somebody either stepping out into the road when they shouldn’t have or a driver making a mistake,” he said. “In the end it is a mistake that is made by one of these road using groups that is resulting in these collisions occurring.”

The fatal collision on Thursday involved a woman who was struck by a vehicle after attempting to cross mid-block near the Eglinton Avenue and Hanna Road area.

Stibbe said that collision was a “perfect example” of how preventable some of these accidents are.

“It is a needless tragedy,” he said.

There have been 64 fatal collisions so far in 2016, which equals the number of fatal collisions in all of 2015. If there is at least two more traffic fatalities between now and the end of the year the city will have recorded the highest number of road deaths since 2003.