Pedestrian safety has been a major concern in Montreal this year following a number of serious collisions that has led to the death of 16 people.
According to data from the Montreal police department, over the past five years motorists have been responsible for the majority of fatal accidents.
Between 2013 and 2017 police investigations determined in about 60 per cent of fatal collisions involving a pedestrian the motorist was liable. Some of main causes include not respecting a pedestrians right of way at a crosswalk and distracted driving.
However, it does appear that stat is changing.
Looking at last year alone, when 11 pedestrians died in road collisions in Montreal, police found responsibility flipped, with risky pedestrian behaviour causing 53 per cent of fatalities.
During Montreal Public Safety Commission meeting in September, Montreal police presented various statistics regarding pedestrian safety, including the most often commonly observed risky behaviours. In 2017, 58 per cent of fines handed out to pedestrians were for not respecting crossing signals, with jaywalking accounting for 15 per cent of tickets.
Risky pedestrian behaviour was the focus of a recent video campaign released by the SAAQ.
Patrick Morency with Montreal's Public Health department told TVA his department isn't looking to place blame on any group. Instead the department wants to find effective solutions to improve safety by looking at the environment pedestrians and motorists share and through infrastructure changes.