Can you see it coming? Giant banana peel in downtown Vancouver a metaphor for preventable injuries

There is a huge new piece of public art in Vancouver with a serious message.

The Community Against Preventable Injuries has installed a 2.5-metre banana peel on the corner of Granville and Georgia.

The message behind the installation is that most “accidents” aren’t really accidents at all. Most of the time, you can see them coming – just like a humongous banana peel.

“The giant banana peel is an internationally recognized icon for an accident waiting to happen,” said the organization’s co-executive director Ian Pike.

“It is a metaphor for people seeing the risks they take in their everyday lives, whether they are texting and walking, whether they are texting and driving, whether they are wearing a personal flotation device or a helmet. These are the risks that people assume and regrettably one of the attitudes we have in British Columbia is: injuries won’t happen to them.”

The Community Against Preventable Injuries says it has consistently challenged the idea that serious injuries only happen to “other people” because these attitudes are the common thread that underlies all serious injuries, whether they’re caused by motor vehicle crashes, falls from ladders, drowning, mixing medications or anything else.

“This icon is to remind people that — if you can see it, you can avoid it,” Pike said.