We can do better than ‘Just Slow Down’

Opinion

The Free Press story Speed hit 213 km/h, police say, published March 27, brought to mind an experience of my own.

In 2017, I was hit head-on by a vehicle exceeding the speed limit on the same road, in the same area. The driver was suffering from a medical issue, and had accidentally locked his foot onto the gas pedal. I had minor injuries, but my ‘04 Santa Fe and the front foyer of the Marigold restaurant didn’t make it; I never knew what happened to the driver.

I was glad to see the driver of this most recent collision arrested, but what stood out to me is this: In an early online version of this article, the Winnipeg Police Service reminded us that collisions are not accidents. “If it is predictable, it is preventable.”

Yes, occurrences of speeding, as well as collisions on many Winnipeg roads, are rather predictable. In fact, with how St. Mary’s Road was specifically engineered; they’re practically a yearly guarantee. A 17-year-old was killed in 2022, (‘A terrible thing’: Teen dead after St. Mary’s Road crash, Oct. 19, 2022) just a few streets over from the “notorious curve” where speeding caused another collision.

What has changed since then? The twisted metal, broken glass, and shattered plastic were swept away … and then? Forgotten. No lessons learned, no change to the road’s design … nothing. A child died, and we so quickly forgot.

The WPS stated in the aftermath of the March 26 collision “The overall strategy of the Winnipeg Police Service continues to focus on making city streets safe for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike. We all have a part to play in maintaining road safety and our message is simple: Just Slow Down.”

But is it as simple as that? Sure, there would be a slight change if we even lowered the speed limit from 60 km/h to 50 km/h; it’s better than nothing.

But would this actually rectify the issue? Drivers could still feel comfortable driving a little over the limit, to over twice or even three times the limit. The design of St. Mary’s Road, along with many other Winnipeg streets built in the post-streetcar era, prioritizes speed at the cost of safety to those inside or outside of a vehicle. These roads were built for vehicles to travel fast, not necessarily safely.

Therein lies the issue with the “Just Slow Down” campaign.

While well intentioned, it falls short by focusing solely on individual behaviour rather than the systemic issues that permit these collisions. You can tell a driver to slow down, but ultimately driving is a subconscious activity. Driving would be exhausting if every single operation of the vehicle required your full attention (this is why distracted driving is so common).

I can guarantee there is no driver who obsessively checks their speedometer every few seconds to ensure they are driving at or under the limit. People will drive at the engineered “comfort” of the road.

What we need are engineered roads that force drivers to be attentive — narrow or curved streets, with visual/physical cues to the driver to signal to them that it would be dangerous to themselves or their vehicle to go above the designed road speed.

We need a team of traffic engineers to review crash data, to see how improvements could be made to lower collisions and improve safety before more lives are taken or injuries occur.

We need our city leaders to demand a true goal to put an end to traffic fatalities in our communities.

These are commonplace in many other cities, but not Winnipeg.

If we continue to build roads that encourage high speeds, we should not be surprised when drivers take advantage of them, predictably putting lives at risk.

Jeffrey Hodgins is a lifelong Winnipeg resident, passionate for public safety and his community’s health.