A pedestrian advocacy group in Vancouver has launched an unusual safety campaign using foam bricks to get drivers’ attention
On Monday, pedestrians were seen crossing the streets in Granville Island with foam bricks in their hands as part of an April Fool’s stunt from Vision Zero Vancouver meant to raise awareness about pedestrian-vehicle related accidents.
In a video about the pilot project, pedestrians are seen grabbing foam bricks from a bin at an intersection and then crossing the street while dramatically waving the bricks to alert drivers of their presence.
On Monday evening, Vision Zero Vancouver tweeted that the Pedestrian Brick Crossing System was successful and plans to open a second location.
Vision Zero Vancouver is a pedestrian advocacy group with a mission to lower the amount of traffic violence while keeping the government accountable for traffic safety, according to its website.
The brick campaign set off movements in other cities, where residents are seen crossing the street with red flags, Global News reports.
It seems the comical movement hasn’t made its way to Toronto, but the city has its own Vision Zero initiatives that have significantly helped decrease traffic fatalities since 2016.
Some of these initiatives include installing more pedestrian crossovers, Watch Your Speed Program (WYPS) signs to reduce the amount of cars driving over the speed limit, investing in safe cycling routes, and implementing more school crossing guards.
There have also been a variety of educational campaigns that have taken place to raise awareness about pedestrian safety, including a current initiative encouraging residents to put up comic-book text “Slow Down!” signs on their lawns.
Toronto residents can pick up and put their signs up from Apr. 1- Nov. 30.
“Annual funding for the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan has increased each year since its introduction in 2016. The 2024 total Road Safety Plan budget of $79.4M (capital and operating) represents the largest investment ever made by the City for road safety improvements, surpassing the approved budget of $72.3M in 2023,” the City of Toronto told Now Toronto in an email statement on Tuesday.
The city says the road safety plan has made Toronto’s streets safer despite an increasing population.
“Even as traffic levels have returned to near pre-pandemic levels, rates of serious injury have not returned to the levels we saw before the pandemic,” the city said.
Some pedestrian advocacy organizations around the city have been vocal about improved safety measuresas well, such as Walk Toronto, Toronto Environmental Alliance, and Avenue Road Safety Coalition.
Walk Toronto helps make Toronto a more walkable city by working with the government and community groups.
“The casual indifference to pedestrian safety has to end; a very important initiative and badly needed,” architect and urban designer Ken Greenberg stated on Walk Toronto’s website.
Toronto Environmental Alliance works in conjunction with Walk Toronto to be a voice for the growing cycling community and understand what their needs are, so they can safely bike in heavy traffic areas.
And Avenue Road Safety Coalition supports people using the high-traffic road area between Bloor Street West and St. Clair Avenue.
Vision Zero Toronto implemented a dashboard where residents can see how the city’s safety initiatives are panning out.
As of March 2024, the city has installed 1,324 pedestrian head start signals and 1,123 community safety zones as of June 2022, according to the Vision Zero dashboard.
