In the streets of Toronto

First of all let's just note that the temperature is above freezing and will stay that way for a few days - I think that little rodent Wiarton Willie was bang on for his 2011 prediction of an early spring. Secondly let's think of the streets of Toronto as the snow starts to melt and happiness returns to the residents of the city, long hidden below ground in the PATH system. Mostly the roads are for cars, buses and taxis - where people forget that they tend to get run over and Toronto averages around 30 fatalities a year - with the highest per capita pedestrian collision rate of any other Canadian city.

The highest number of incidents occur when vehicles turn left at an intersection and hit someone walking with the right of way - during rush hours. Makes sense, when you try to turn in the city pedestrians know they have the right of way and tend not to think of vehicles, the driver on the other hand is trying not to get into an accident with another car and misses people in the walkway. Now more of our intersections are getting the Beatles Abbey Road treatment with the large stripes so that the contrast helps drivers see the pedestrians.