Ottawa's new road safety campaign says 'everyone' should be alert at intersections

The City of Ottawa's new "all paths cross at intersections" video calls on drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to be alert at intersections. (City of Ottawa/YouTube)

The City of Ottawa's new road safety message for the summer is calling on all road users, including drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, to be alert at intersections.

A 31 second advertisement posted on social media, YouTube and the city's website called "All paths cross at intersections " has the caption, "Who should be most alert at intersections? Everyone."

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The ad features an individual driving in downtown Ottawa with a voice saying, "I thought I was driving safely, keeping an eye out for pedestrians and cyclists. I thought I could make a quick left turn." You then hear the sound of a collision and the video shows emergency crews working on a vehicle.

"I was dead wrong," the voice says.

The advertisement notes that 57 per cent of fatal and major injury collisions in Ottawa occur at or near intersections.

An article posted on the city's website says, "Whether the intersection has stop signs or traffic signals or is a roundabout, all road users' cross paths there. Who should be most alert at intersections? Everyone."

Safer Roads Ottawa program coordinator John Wambombo tells CTV News Ottawa the "all paths cross at intersections" article and ad is part of the city's push to improve safety at intersections.

"The article highlights best practices that all road users (drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists) can adopt to enhance their safety on the road and most importantly, what drivers should do to prevent actions that put other road users in danger, especially vulnerable road users," Wambombo said.

Safer Roads Ottawa and the city launched a behavioural-change ad campaign in December called "Time is Precious." The campaign's initial focus was on high-risk driving behaviour, including impaired driving, distracted driving and aggressive driving.

"The three pillars of the Road Safety Action Plan (RSAP) are engineering, enforcement, and education. The RSAP addresses four emphasis areas includingvulnerable road users (cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists), intersection safety, rural roads safety, and high-risk driving behaviour (aggressive, distracted, and impaired driving)," Wambombo says. "The goal of the overall ad campaign is to support the objectives and goals of the RSAP, as well as raise awareness of the consequences of unsafe road behaviours. We aim to denormalize unsafe road habits and create a culture of road safety. "

Another ad the City of Ottawa is running on social media features a cyclist riding on a bike with a voice saying, "Cyclists be alert to turning vehicles. Drivers be sure the way is clear." The message at the end of the video says, "Fatal and major injury collisions happen when drivers don't see cyclists."

An article on the city's website about the second road safety advertisement has a headline, "Drivers, cyclists and the city: We have work to do."

"Walking, biking, scooting, driving - we all want to stay safe on our roads, no matter our mode of travel," the city says on its website. But we are more vulnerable to severe injury from vehicle collisions when we are pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Adults over 65 and children under 15 are also more at risk."

Ottawa's Road Safety Action Plan is a proactive strategy with the vision of making "Ottawa roads safer for all users," Wambombo says.  According to the city's website, the Road Safety Action Plan focuses the city's efforts "where they can have the greatest impact on reducing collisions resulting in major death of injury."

The theme for the 2020-2024 Road Safety Action Plan is "Think Safety, Act Safely" and the goal is to reduce the average annual rate of fatal injury collisions by 20 per cent by 2024. 

Wambombo says the city is working to improve road safety, including redesigning high-volume cycling locations on Alta Vista Drive, Ogilvie Road and King Edward Avenue.

"The City is committed to making Ottawa’s roads safer for everyone."