Police chief addresses ‘astounding’ tally of Hamilton pedestrian deaths so far in 2022

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Published April 11, 2022 at 5:46 pm

Standing at the intersection of two busy one-way downtown streets, police Chief Frank Bergen spoke to the efforts to stanch the “astounding” rate of pedestrian deaths so far this year in Hamilton.

Last week, 78-year-old Boris Brott and 42-year-old Glen Harison Clark became the seventh and eighth people who have died in Hamilton in 2022 after being hit by a motorist. Monday was the 10st day of the year, so the city is on pace for almost 29 motorist-pedestrian fatalities. That is more than double that 12 that were recorded in 2021.

Chief Bergen said in a video posted to social media that “this trend cannot continue.” He said the Hamilton Police Service will be focused on curbing certain driving behaviours, and will also collaborate with City of Hamilton staff.

“Since the beginning of January, there has been an astounding eight pedestrian deaths on our streets,” Bergen said in the video, which was filmed while the police chief stood at the northeast corner of King and Wellington streets. “I think we can all agree, that number is way too high. These deaths have a devastating impact on families and our communities. This trend cannot continue. Hamilton police remain focused on four driving behaviours related to road safety: speeding, distracted driving, aggressive driving and impaired driving

“We are also targeting Hamilton’s top 10 collision intersections, in an effort to reduce collisions, and we are working closely with the City of Hamilton on implementing road safety reform. We will continue to be out there educating and enforcing the rules of the road, but we can’t do it ourselves. We need your help. We all need to do our part in creating safe roads. That means obeying road rules and caring about the safety of others on the road. Let’s make sure everyone gets to their destination safety.”

Six of the other seven most dangerous intersections for motorist collisions involve either Main or King streets in the lower city, based on last year’s collision report by the city’s Public Works department. And two of the worst intersections for motorists hitting pedestrians are King St. W. and Dundurn St. S., and Main St. W. and Dundurn.

Last week, days after a teenage girl was hit by a driver at Dundurn and Main, city councillors voted unanimously to expedite recommendations from a road safety review at those two intersections.

Those numbers are drawn from the last year’s collision report, which was made publicly available in August.  Public Works compiles five-year totals for collisions, so the data is from 2016 to ’20.

Mohawk Road East at Upper Wentworth Street on Hamilton Mountain had the second-most multi-motorist (or multi-vehicle) collisions over that span.

In fact, Clark, who died last Saturday, was struck on Upper Wentworth St. the previous day.

Three days earlier on April 5, Brott, a renowned conductor and longtime leader of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and Brott Music Festival, died when he was struck on Park Street South in the Durand neighbourhood.

A 33-year-old man, Arsenije Lojovic, has been charged in relation to the collision. He faces charges of failing to stop at an accident causing death, and dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death

Four people also died after they were hit by the speeding driver of a stolen vehicle in the early hours of March 19.

Dundurn and King had a city-most 11 instances of a driver hitting a pedestrian over five years. Dundurn and Main also had seven from ’16 to ’20.

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