Playing Games with Citizen Safety
Politicians only hear what they want to hear
This afternoon, I received a written copy of the motion that was passed by ETC as a result of my delegation re traffic warrants:
At its meeting held on October 27, 2008, the Environment and Transportation Committee (ETC) heard a verbal presentation and received a communication dated October 26, 2008 from G. Fowler … with respect to pedestrian safety. The ETC asked the Civic Administration to report back on the warrants and standards for pedestrians through the creation of Book 15 of the Ontario Traffic Manual and how they relate to our Transportation Master Plan. (13/17/ETC).
The motion is pretty weasly, in that it doesn’t much resemble what I actually had to say, and it leaves open the possibility for city staff to ignore the substance of my concerns completely when they report back to the committee.
That doesn’t exactly come as any great surprise to me, since City Council has been ducking the issue of pedestrian safety and pedestrian rights for many years (while pretending to embrace alternative transportation).
But with the recent death of two citizens, it takes on an added significance.
Hopefully, those citizens who haven’t yet been killed by automobiles will start to speak up.
© Fowler Media
What’s the best way to speak up? I feel so frustrated when I see cars jumping red lights, turning right through “My” walking signal when I want to go, not stopping at stop signs and so on. I have occasionally reported license plates (like the time a school mum drove straight through a stop sign when I was halfway across the road with toddler and baby-in-stroller) and had prompt and polite response, but surely I can’t do this everytime. Besides, I can only hold one license plate number in my head at a time!
To start with, I’m not conceited enough to think that I can advise of about what’s the “best” way to do anything (despite what some of my anon emailing detractors have to say).
Recognizing that different people have different levels of capability in different areas, the answer is probably different depending upon the individual.
Having said that, here’s a few thoughts…
Talking over such social issues with other people is a good thing. Even if it’s only casual conversation in a coffee shop, that’s better than keeping things bottled up. And it helps to make other people aware of the situation, to get their perspectives, and to clarify your own thoughts.
Like I wrote in a recent post, I *very much* believe that law enforcement is as much a complaints-driven system as public transit and some other things. In fact, several years ago I got a written response from the Police Chief which said essentially that his officers have discretionary power to lay charges or not and that their sense of the community’s will is one of the things that they take into consideration. Given that fact, plus the responsibility that I believe falls upon each of us in return for the privilege of living in this country, I do not believe that talking such things over with friends is enough. I think we’re called upon to do more than that.
Some thin-skinned people are afraid of being labelled as a “complainer” or such, but the people who cast those kinds of stones don’t have the intelligence to worry about. It’s important to report instances of events like the ones you mentioned in order to get them and your concern about them “on the record.” Those stats DO matter when it comes time for police and politicians to decide where and how often they’ll deploy limited resources and what the “community’s will” is.
Even I don’t report things every time. That’s not because of any particular agenda, but simply reflects the fact that I have limited financial and human resources. But I do report things as often as I can.
One suggestion that I have for you is that you purchase a digital voice recorder. They’re very small and not too expensive and can be used for many other things as well. You can transfer the digital audio recordings to your PC and archive them and then erase the recorder’s HD (no tapes to purchase). It’s the way that I “remember” vehicle license numbers and vehicle/person descriptions, day/time/location, etc.
I also use a cellphone that’s capable of shooting photos/video. Like the voice recorder, small enough to have on you at all times. I’ve acquired the habit of having it ready to shoot video every time that I cross the road, whether it be in an intersection or mid-block. And while it seldom influences driver behaviour in advance of their stupidity, I believe that it sends a message to the ones who do manage to take notice after the fact. And sometimes (not often enough) they see the cellphone pointed at them while they’re bearing down on you and actually slow down.
Having recorded event details, I then email the recordings/descriptions to LPS Sgt. Thomas O’Brien (TOBrien@police.london.ca). And more recently, I’ve begun to copy those emails to the city’s Community Safety and Crime Prevention Advisory Committee (http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=/Committees_and_Task_Forces/CSCP.htm).
There are lots of other things that can be done also. Like joining your local community association, writing letters to the editor of newspapers, making written/verbal presentations to City Council, etc.
And people are always welcome to submit articles here to FMBS or to ask me for my assistance.