Second pedestrian hospitalized by driver this week in crosswalk

On Thursday afternoon, a driver hit and hospitalized a 62-year-old woman who was in a crosswalk close to the intersection of Quadra Street and Rock Street, near Playfair Park. The incident occurred around 12:40pm.

Police say that the southbound driver failed to stop at a red light and was given a $368 ticket fine for “driving without due care and attention,” according to the Times Colonist.

It’s the second time this week that a pedestrian has been sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries caused by a driver hitting them in a crosswalk.

“This type of near misses and collisions happen here all the time,” said Philip Marciniak, who has been living on Quadra Street near the Rock Street intersection for the past seven years. “I think it's the inherent design of Quadra street—four lanes of drag strip-style [road] that was recently repaved actually, the last few years,” he added.

Marciniak staged a mini-protest yesterday at the Quadra crosswalk, where he and other Saanich residents repeatedly used the crosswalk during its light cycles.

“It’s a small gesture of citizens, neighbours, just existing in that intersection,” Marciniak said.

On Tuesday morning, a child was hit in a marked crosswalk at the intersection of Shelbourne Street and San Juan Avenue on their way to school. Marciniak was at the protest that followed the next morning, where road safety advocate Elise Cote called for Saanich’s mayor and council to do more on road safety in the district. Marciniak was present at that protest too, asking drivers to slow down at the crosswalk.

“Clearly, the current design is not working. It’s not keeping people safe. I think we need to think of some other options,” Marciniak said.