Striding the stripes

>> Crosswalk czar Jeremy Searle promises
to make drivers brake for two-legged beasts

by KRISTIAN GRAVENOR

Pity the fool who paints crosswalks, the widely ignored white rectangles that line approximately 700 island streets and roads in the aim of allowing Montrealers to safely make like the chicken crossing the road. Crosswalk creators might suffer an existential crisis knowing that motorists and pedestrians alike will ignore their efforts.

Locally, it’s one of our dearest frequently unanswered questions: why do drivers consistently rifle past ambulatory action on crosswalks, when the provincial highway code orders vehicles to stop when a pedestrian appears at the stripes?

If Jeremy Searle gets his way, the disregard for users of the walks will soon become chose du passé. The Loyola city councillor has been handed the Herculean task of persuading motorists to change their unfortunate ways and start braking for two-legged beasts. Searle, known for his fast-paced colourful quips and tidy Caesar haircut, has cause for optimism in his efforts to fix a problem that contributes to the 25 to 40 pedestrian deaths and the 140 to 220 serious injuries suffered annually on the island.
Searle recently spent $8,400 from the city kitty on a pilot project on four streets in Ville St-Laurent, putting up foot-high barriers parallel to the sidewalks adorned with posts holding fluorescent yellow signs alongside the crossing zones, a design that Searle dreamt up himself. Now the results are in. After a few weeks, police reported compliance with the stop-for-pedestrians law went from zero to 80 per cent. “I knew we’d have success but this was incredible,” says Searle.

He believes that ignorance and unclear signs are to blame for the unfortunate custom of barrelling along even while vulnerable pedestrians venture onto the walks. “Most of the signage on the island is non-regulation,” says Searle. “Currently you’ll see three types of crosswalk signs: one shows two school children, another is of a child chasing a ball and another is the man crossing the road. That man is the only one recognized by the highway code.” He wants to end the semiotic nightmare by getting rid of the signs with the kids on them. “Motorists wonder whether the crosswalk is only for during school hours, or they think it might not apply during the school vacations, or they think maybe it means maybe they don’t have to stop for adults.”

Time wasters to go

Gone too will be many crosswalks at intersections, which Searle describes as “a nutcake idea,” because of the turns and other distracting stunts motorists pull at the corners. He plans to move them all midway down the street at the cost of a parking spot on each side. Except, that is, in cases where crosswalks can help do away with the crossing lights showing the white silhouette that gets replaced by the red hand. Searle says those signs frustrate motorists who are forced to stop and sit it out even when there’s nary a pedestrian in sight. New crosswalk laws will also make those “no right on greens” unnecessary, as motorists will henceforth stop at such a light only when a pedestrian is present. Crosswalks are also, he believes, safer than those time-wasting lights. “Pedestrians now think they only have the right to cross while the white silhouette is lit and motorists think they have the priority after that.”

Searle also wants security islands put in the middle of any two-way street equipped with a crosswalk. Current law orders motorists to stop on both sides whenever a pedestrian steps onto the crosswalk, an unlikely event in this burg. With a pedestrian island, “You will create two separate crosswalks, one for each direction of traffic,” he says. “One of the principles of all this is that things work better when you have mutual respect between pedestrian and motorist.”

But don’t expect to see suspended overhead crosswalk signs dangling over the road. “Those are second-rate Toronto things,” says Searle. “When I’m driving, I’m not looking up in the air. Putting those up there just uglifies the streetscape.”

Searle’s dream of safe street passage hinges on getting good motorists to dare to follow the road rules. “We’re not going after the bad drivers. I consider the problems are created by the good drivers who are embarrassed to stop at a crosswalk because they’re afraid that the person behind them will wave their fist or bang their horn.” :