Heading west along the Danforth after last Wednesday’s thunderstorm, the first thing drivers would have noticed was that the traffic lights were out. The second thing was that traffic was moving smoothly regardless. True, it was a bit slower than usual, but not by much. Drivers — as well as cyclists and pedestrians — managed to get through even the busiest intersection at Danforth and Broadview without difficulty.Their response was the stuff of a driving instructor’s dream. Patient, courteous, attentive, drivers awaited their turn without so much as a honked horn.Could these be the same drivers whose behaviour has made Toronto a death zone? Who, despite the city’s efforts, the mayor’s pleas, their own better judgment and, oh yes, the law, have killed 93 pedestrians and cyclists in the last two years alone?Clearly, a crisis brings out a driver’s better nature. Impatience, irritation and road rage give way to the higher priorities of an emergency. A sense of shared responsibility takes over and the every-driver-for-himself mentality is replaced by the need for co-operation. Suddenly, the automatic assumptions that drivers, cyclists and pedestrians make in the course of even the simplest trip no longer apply. Nothing can been taken for granted; road users must pay attention to one another, make eye contact when possible and, as the sign says, proceed with caution.Of course, driving to work or the supermarket doesn’t normally involve crisis thinking. But perhaps it should. After all, it’s the ordinary stuff of driving — turning, overtaking, reversing — that can be deadly. The challenge is to recreate emergency driving without the emergency. Simply asking drivers to slow down and pay attention isn’t enough. It’s like telling your kids to be nice.The first thing to admit is that there’s no single solution to the problem. The answer is multi-faceted. The objective is to create condition ...
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