There´s no tally of close calls on Toronto streets. So pedestrians are turning to #NearMissToronto
(The Star Travel)

Abigail Pugh had just dropped her 9-year-old daughter off at school in Dufferin Grove when she witnessed a near miss.A driver didn’t see a boy crossing at a pedestrian crosswalk and slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding another headline-making tragedy. The experience spurred Pugh to create the hashtag and ensuing campaign #NearMissToronto. “I just decided there and then that I needed to give people a voice for this kind of event,� she said.Toronto road users have used the hashtag to share their stories of close calls and near misses. #NearMissToronto has picked up steam on Twitter, with 102 uses since Pugh started the campaign six weeks ago, amid a rash of cyclist and pedestrian deaths that have raised concerns about road safety.Read more: When it comes to road safety in Toronto the burden is not equal for all usersWe spent rush hour watching cyclists and drivers navigate an ‘absolutely terrifying’ Toronto intersection. Most did it wrongToronto’s famed bike lane protector vows to fight on after hanging up uniform“The actual fatality events don’t tell the whole story,� she said. “I figured that it would help journalists and politicians understand the extent of terror on our roads.�Pugh wants the campaign to amplify the voices of pedestrians and others who feel powerless in the “wild west� of Toronto roads. But she also hopes municipal politicians and Mayor John Tory read people’s stories and are moved to make changes to infrastructure, like changing pedestrian crossings to light signals.Pugh printed 200 posters promoting the hashtag and stuck them up at crosswalks around her neighbourhood, and some friends did the same. A sign at College and Havelock Sts. asks, “Almost hit by a vehicle at this crosswalk? To share: #NearmissToronto.�Dozens of tweets and Facebook posts followed, with most of the buzz building up in the past few days. Twitter Canada said the hashtag ...