After a string of fatal collisions in Windsor, how are other cities tackling road safety?

The president of the Ontario Safety League is urging Windsor to speed up the adoption of road safety measures used in other municipalities following a string of fatal collisions across the city in recent weeks.

Four people have died in as many weeks - the most recent collision occurred early Saturday afternoon, when a 43-year-old woman crossing the street at Forest Glade Drive and Lauzon Parkway was struck and killed by a vehicle.

One week earlier, a vehicle crashed into a home on Riveria Drive in South Windsor, killing a 73-year-old woman inside.

On Nov. 18, two people – a man and woman in their 60s – died after what police described as a pedestrian-vehicle collision on Walker Road near Niagara Street.

"In my 20 years as a road safety advocate, 90 per cent [of collisions] are preventable and could have been avoided or significantly reduced by either education, enforcement or technology," said Brian Patterson, president of the Ontario Safety League.

Patterson highlighted several road safety measures adopted in other municipalities that Windsor could consider to reduce road injuries and fatalities.

One example is leading pedestrian intervals (LPIs), which give pedestrians a few seconds to start crossing an intersection before vehicles get a green light.

The City of London – about a two-hour drive up the 401 from Windsor – has implemented LPIs at five intersections.

"When drivers start to navigate their turns, that pedestrian is more visible and it reinforces the pedestrian's right of way in the crosswalk," said Doug MacRae, director of transportation and mobility for the City of London.

More than half of Toronto's intersections are equipped with LPIs according to the city's manager of transportation services, who said cost is not a barrier to making the switch.

"Generally speaking, it's a relatively simple update to the signal timing that then gets reflected on the road with those few extra seconds," said Sheyda Saneineja.

"We know that it's an effective counter-measure."

A City of Windsor report noted that leading pedestrian intervals have reduced pedestrian collisions by up to 60 per cent in other jurisdictions.

Automated speed enforcement (ASE) is another measure the Ontario Safety League said it "fully supports."

In 2017, the Ontario government made legislative changes allowing municipalities to implement ASE in community safety and school zones.

Windsor currently uses speed radar signs on some roads, but unlike ASE, these do not issue automatic tickets to drivers exceeding the speed limit.

"I know some people who tell me that speed cameras are just a tax grab," said Patterson. "It is not a tax grab unless you're speeding, in which case it is an appropriate use of technology to reduce the risk for everyone else in that community."

A City of Windsor memo indicated that while many high-injury corridors qualify for ASE under the city's Community Safety Zone Policy, technical challenges such as limited roadside space or obstructed views may hinder installation.

Asked about ASE's effectiveness in London, MacRae said average driver speeds decreased by about seven kilometers per hour when cameras were installed.

Even after the cameras were rotated to other locations, speeds remained lower than before the program began, he added.

In Toronto, Saneineja said automated speed enforcement near a hospital reduced the "proportion of people speeding" by up to 40 per cent.

"There is concern with vandalism [of the ASE cameras], but the number of requests we get for the program and the number of people who want it because they see that it improves safety far outweighs any sort of negative concern we've seen," she said.

"We know that it's a program that works. After all, the easiest way to not get a ticket is to not speed."

Windsor's Vision Zero strategy, approved by city council at the start of 2024, anticipates introducing ASE within the next five years.

However, a clearer timeline depends on council approving individual safety measures outlined in the strategy.

The strategy also calls LPIs to be implemented at select intersections as a pilot program.

Windsor city councillor Angelo Marignani – who has previously supported automated speed enforcement – said a report detailing how and where ASE cameras could be installed is expected to go before council in early 2025.

"I believe we need to use all tools necessary in order to control our careless drivers on the road," Marignani said in an email.

"We need to improve with our education and engineering tools that are available with the advancements of technology."