Traffic signals are improving, but lots of work still to be done, city data shows

Last time the skies opened up, courier Paul Katik knew what to expect -- traffic lights out all over the city causing jams at intersections, driver confusion and delayed deliveries.

"It happens a lot, especially after it rains heavily or when it snows," said Katik, the owner of Slingshot Courier.

Last year, Winnipeg's traffic signals malfunctioned 3,100 times. That's a lot, an average of eight trouble calls a day, but it's a huge improvement over past years.

Katik has noticed the improvement. During a recent rainstorm, Katik was mildly surprised more traffic lights didn't short out. "It was a lot better than I was expecting it to be," he said.

Ticket masters: Mobile photo radar summons soar by 64 per cent in 2013

Winnipeg's intersection cameras aren't nabbing more bad drivers, but the mobile photo radar vans sure are.

A new report released Tuesday by the Winnipeg Police Service shows the number of mobile photo radar tickets handed out in 2013 is up substantially from the previous year. Intersection cameras spit out about the same number of tickets, while old-fashioned enforcement by officers dropped by nearly half.

Police say new mobile photo radar technology and advances in digital imagery were responsible for the 64 per cent increase in mobile speed-trap tickets.

Winnipeggers often complain loudly about the city's photo-enforcement program, saying it's little more than a cash grab. The latest statistics will likely inflame opponents since the profit from photo enforcement more than doubled to $7.5 million.

Dangerous demographic

There's a word, a little bit rude, that perfectly describes a certain kind of driver.

The guy who weaves in and out of lanes, cutting off other motorists, swerving into the spaces between cars to get to the red light a few seconds faster. The guy who floors it down Portage Avenue, engine roaring, blowing through yellows. The guy who tailgates so close it borders on road-rage intimidation.

Those drivers are douchebags. And they are, indeed, mostly all young men.

Good drivers have accidents -- a moment of inattention, a slippery winter road, a misjudged speed, a slow reaction.

Proceeding with caution: Mayoral contenders on their plans to make streets safer

New York City's rookie mayor has pledged to end traffic deaths in a decade, but most of Winnipeg's mayoral candidates aren't quite that audacious.

Among the top current contenders -- former councillor Gord Steeves, lawyer Brian Bowman and Charleswood Coun. Paula Havixbeck -- Bowman came the closest, saying his campaign will eventually come out with quantifiable targets related to road safety and transportation.

"I actually like the idea of setting zero as a target, knowing full well it's like setting a goal of ending homelessness, knowing you may not achieve it fully," said Bowman.

Setting a tough target for voters to approve allows a mayor to get buy-in from council and city staff, helps the best ideas emerge and preserves accountability, said Bowman.

Simple intersection fixes available, but lack of cash and fear of backlash keep them from gaining traction

Winnipeg drivers tend to balk at all the stuff that makes them safer.

Try to calm traffic through River Heights with roundabouts and a summer rebellion brews. Try to block roads to deter commuter cut-throughs and a city councillor’s phone lines light up. Let’s not even suggest de-synchronizing green lights at night to stop speeding.

But those are the things other major cities are testing to reduce traffic fatalities, going street by street to make intersections safer.

In New York City, where the new mayor has pledged to eliminate traffic deaths in a decade, the city will renovate 50 of the dodgiest intersections and arterials every year. Engineers are looking to add a cascading set of safety tweaks, all fairly cheap, such as clearer lane markings, new left-turning lanes and lights so drivers don’t feel pressure to turn too soon, bigger medians for pedestrians and even adjusting traffic lights to slow speeders at night.

For police, investigating and charging dangerous drivers is a tricky and frustrating process

Only a quarter of bad car crashes result in charges and even fewer see drivers get jail time.

That's according to data provided by the Winnipeg Police Service and buttressed by court records, and it reveals a growing frustration among senior traffic officers tasked with investigating some of Winnipeg's worst collisions.

St. James resident Bev Bungay, whose long recovery from a 2012 crash kicked off the Free Press's traffic series last week, was hit while crossing Portage Avenue at the light. Bungay broke 11 bones and spent nearly a year off work, but the driver who hit her at close to 70 kilometres per hour was never charged.

Often, the driver flees the crash scene and is never located, which is what happened when cyclist Rebecca Ward was hit by a motorist on Academy Road a year ago. As Ward told the Free Press earlier this week, the motorist stopped briefly, saw her badly broken leg wasn't life-threatening and then drove off. Police later asked for the public's help identifying him, but never could.

Interactive Map: Crash outcomes in Winnipeg

The Winnipeg Police Service’s central traffic unit investigated 30 serious accidents in 2011. Only a third resulted in charges and even fewer resulted in jail time, according to a review by the Free Press.

See the results of our research on each case in the map below. Green markers indicate crashes in which charges were laid. Click on any marker for more details on the case.

NYC has embraced speed reduction, but experts question whether it would work here

NEW YORK -- In Manhattan, after a sweaty hour stuck in the latest carmageddon, there is nothing better than an open block where you can gun it.

And, that's just what cars did through Dave Thom's quiet neighbourhood at the northern tip of Manhattan. It's also what drivers do on many Winnipeg residential streets at rush hour, especially in River Heights and North Kildonan.

But New York has a solution; not a perfect one, but one residents love — slow zones.

Those are small pockets where the residential speed limit drops to 20 miles per hour from 30 mph, where signs and painted asphalt blanket the street and where speed humps slow down drivers.

Fear & pedalling

Her leg, floppy and numb, was one of the first things cyclist Rebecca Ward remembers after being T-boned by a driver on Academy Road a year ago.

"I went up on his windshield and got tossed around and landed, sort of spun around," says Ward, a University of Winnipeg student. "I remember just not knowing how to orient myself in space, where my body was -- the moment of seeing the flash of the car to the left, and that instant of being thrown into not knowing."

That spring, there had been a spate of cyclists injured in collisions. As she was wavering in and out of consciousness, Ward burbled something about not wanting to be another one of those stories.

"There were so many people around me, helping me, being super awesome," says Ward. "They were like, 'No, you're fine.'"

No accident: a city plans to eliminate all traffic deaths

By employing a strategy embracing community outreach, city planning and increased enforcement, New York City has set the ambitious goal of bringing traffic deaths to zero. But can the Big Apple’s plan achieve the same effect in our city?

Cyclist’s Perspective: Navigating Winnipeg’s streets

We sent experienced cyclist Bev Peters from her home in Wolseley to the North Star Drive Inn in the North End, along a route she’s never ridden to look at some of the issues cyclists face every day. She gave a street by street analyses of her ride.

Crash consequences: Victim’s recovery a long journey

Here's the sum total of what Bev Bungay remembers after she left for work one slushy Tuesday in December 2012.

"Great, I'll be able to catch the earlier bus."

Asking a paramedic if she was dreaming. He replied, "No, but you're going to be OK."

Someone in the emergency room saying, "I've got her backpack and her wallet."

Interactive Map: Winnipeg crashes

The maps on this page show collisions on Winnipeg streets reported to Manitoba Public Insurance in 2012.  Use the tabs at the top to review fatal crashes, crashes that caused injuries, and all crashes, including those that resulted only in property damage.

Research by Mary Agnes Welch.Mapping by Wendy Sawatzky, Andrew Burton and Eric Bailey. Data courtesy Manitoba Public Insurance and Winnipeg Police.

No Accident: How we can make Winnipeg roads safer

In this multi-part series, we’re starting a discussion about traffic safety in Winnipeg. In the Winnipeg Free Press and on winnipegfreepress.com.