Police seeing increase in pedestrian-involved crashes in Waterloo Region

Roads and sidewalks are getting busier now that spring is here and Waterloo Regional Police have already been seeing an increase in pedestrian-involved crashes since the start of the year.

Staff Sgt. Scott Griffiths is with the Waterloo Regional Police Service’s Traffic Services Unit and appeared on The Mike Farwell Show on Tuesday.

Griffiths said there have been 46 documented collisions in Waterloo Region since Jan. 1 that involved pedestrians being hit by vehicles.

“13 of those were serious with major injuries, and two have been fatal,” said Griffiths. “So certainly those are concerning numbers for us. It is an increase over last year’s figures.”

Griffiths said police continue to work on strategies to promote safety for all road users through increased education and enforcement.

“Ultimately, road safety is our goal. We want to make sure that we prevent these instances, and not just react to them.”

He said improving road safety for everyone is a multi-faceted effort and that road design also plays a role.

Last week, there were two local crashes involving pedestrians in a three-day span.

One occurred last Monday afternoon and saw a 9-year-old boy from Waterloo hit by a vehicle and taken to an out-of-region hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Then early last Wednesday, a 29-year-old Kitchener woman was hit by a vehicle and taken to an out-of-region hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries.

Investigations into both of those collisions remain ongoing.