Manitoba Public Insurance says 2019 could be one of the deadliest in decades for pedestrian fatalities.
By mid-September 12 pedestrians have died on public roadways this year — the same number as the previous five-year annual average, according to numbers released Tuesday by MPI.
Manitoba saw the most pedestrian deaths in a single year in 2007, when 16 people were killed.
“As a community, we need to start thinking differently about road safety,” said MPI’s Satvir Jatana in a release.
“We need to change the conversation and create a culture where even one fatality due to a motor vehicle is considered one too many.”
On average in Manitoba roughly 12 pedestrians are killed every year and another 160 are injured.
The public insurer says roughly half of all pedestrian deaths occur at an intersection, while 10 deaths occur between intersections or while people are walking on the road.
“The focus for both pedestrians and motorists must be road safety,” said Jatana.
“We must all do our part to keep our roads safe. Road safety is the responsibility of all Manitobans.”
Manitoba Public Insurance says there have been 45 fatal crashes with 50 people killed so far this year across the province.
Roughly 20 per cent of this year’s road fatalities were related to drugs or alcohol and another one in five were related to speed, according to MPI data.
Twenty per cent of the people killed in crashes so far this year were not wearing a seat belt or in a child restraint at the time.
Over the same period in 2018 Manitoba saw 50 fatal crashes with 55 people killed.
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