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>> How green arrows and crosswalk stick-men protect pedestrians from rabid motorists

by PHILIP PREVILLE

It's like something out of Ripley's Believe It or Not: Montreal is the second-safest city in Canada for pedestrians. According to statistics compiled by city officials, Montreal registered 4.9 pedestrian accidents per 1,000 inhabitants in 1994, second only to Calgary's rate of 3.7 and far less than Toronto's rate of 8.5. And the numbers keep getting better: in '94 there were 22 fatalities and 1,405 injuries to pedestrians caused by motorists in Montreal, while in '97 there were 15 fatalities and 1,262 injuries.

How did they make the streets safe? By treating motorists like the animals they are.

Back in '90, most of the city's intersections had nothing more than a full green light, which would light up at the same time as the pedestrian walk light. Technically, cars are supposed to cede the right of way to those on foot. But motorists turning left or right would challenge pedestrians to a game of chicken, edging their way in front of people or trying to race through the crosswalk first.

Since '91, the city has been installing these forward-only green arrows at the busiest intersections. When the signal first turns green, only the arrow lights up. For the first nine seconds, motorists cannot turn left or right...

...which supposedly gives pedestrians nine seconds of clear crosswalk, free from the interference of hurried, obstinate motorists. Of course, motorists still edge their way into the corner in an attempt to make pedestrians move quicker. But, by and large, the nine-second arrow has reduced the number of accidents.



Final factoid: The city's other trick for keeping motorists under control has been to tinker with the synchronized timing of many traffic lights. The best example is Parc Ave., where the lights are timed based on a speed of 40 km/h, a full 10 clicks below the speed limit. In other words, a motorist who drives down Park at 50 km/h will hit a red light at every corner, but if he slows down to 40 km/h he'll breeze right through them all--at a slow, safe speed.

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