Commentary

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February 4, 2010
by: Ross Kentner

I’ve had two life altering experiences in one week! Both of which qualify me to comment on what’s really going on in Toronto where pedestrians are being killed at an average of one a day. Believe it or not, within a block of work this week I nearly got ran down and nearly ran somebody else down!

Needless to say I’m embarrassed by both incidents, but feel compelled to share them with all the carnage on our streets. So you don’t think "life altering" is an exaggeration, I have already changed my habit of crossing 9^th Street on the diagonal. As an average small city pedestrian, I don’t go to a corner and use a streetlight to cross. The radio station is here…the coffee shop is there, and a straight line between them is the fastest way to a caffeine fix. This week it was also the fastest way to becoming a statistic. Fortunately, the thoughtful driver of a Rogers truck stopped to let me out of the ridiculous position I put myself in. So now, I am taking my time, waiting for all traffic to clear and then crossing the street at 90 degrees.

The next evening I was making a right turn on a red light not half a block from where I nearly got it. As an average driver, my mind is on other vehicles. Once traffic coming from my left has cleared the intersection, I have a right to proceed, in fact, a duty if someone behind me also wants to turn. It was dark, the downtown looked deserted, and when the way was clear I started into the intersection. That’s when I noticed the right windshield wiper smearing which cut my angle of vision. Instinctively I braked just as a pedestrian I hadn’t seen jumped out of harm’s way.

I guess it’s just human nature that as pedestrians, we have a primal right to take the shortest route and drivers should look out for us. And as drivers, we’re managing a machine in a machine world and pedestrians should value their lives a little more. I got into these jams just going for a coffee and rounding the corner. What if I was listening to an Ipod as I jay-walked or on my cell phone as I turned on a red light?

Commentary, with Ross Kentner, can be heard on 560 CFOS Tuesdays & Thursdays at 7:08 am and 5:08 pm