Sudbury Police Focusing on Pedestrian Safety
Law enforcement in Sudbury is continuing to warn of the dangers of the road for pedestrians, stressing ways for people on foot to stay safe. Greater Sudbury Police is on a yearlong initiative to raise safety awareness in a bid to reduce the number of collisions on the roads and the amounts of accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians.
A rise in incidents over the Christmas period spurred the police force into action and the result is a yearlong program to address the issue. The Holiday Season always sees a high rise in road accidents and other traffic related incidents, but the Christmas period in Sudbury in 2015 was especially alarming for emergency services.
“Pedestrian collisions are preventable,” reads a statement from the police service. “Throughout this initiative and for the remainder of the year, the Greater Sudbury Police Service will provide safety information to drivers, motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.”
Community partnerships will see the Greater Sudbury Police engage the public with awareness programs and meetings, while data analysis will help law enforcement identify problem areas in the cities, such as intersections where the most incidents occur. The police say they “work collaboratively to make improvements through education, engineering and enforcement.”
A Traffic Management Unit is constantly analyzing data on collisions in the Greater Sudbury area, and is looking into way to keep motorists and pedestrians safe. Intersections are hotspots, with data in 2014 and 2015 showing that most incidents take place at intersections. Pedestrian collisions are on the rise, but the data reveals that the majority of cases shows that drivers are typically at fault.
“Greater Sudbury Police officers will continue to enforce road-related laws by enforcing speed limits and watching for impaired and or distracted drivers,” the police service states.