14 pedestrians, 2 cyclists have died in vehicle collisions in Winnipeg this year: MPI
Police have reported 5 car crashes involving pedestrians in November alone
The number of pedestrians and cyclists killed in collisions on Winnipeg's streets this year is already four times higher than the number last year, and is 60 per cent higher than the six-year average.
As of Nov. 12, crashes killed 14 pedestrians and two cyclists in Winnipeg, according to data provided to CBC by Manitoba Public Insurance.
That's up considerably from the four pedestrian fatalities in 2023, when there were no cyclist deaths reported.
Since 2019 — the earliest year for which MPI provided data — there have been, on average, roughly 10 pedestrian and cyclist fatalities each year (there were 12 in 2019, four in 2020, eight in 2021 and 15 in 2022).
Those numbers don't count the collisions that resulted in injuries that weren't fatal, or the near misses.
Melissa Moiny, an avid pedestrian who says she walks almost everywhere she goes, told CBC she was almost hit by a car as she was crossing at a lighted intersection at Kenny Street and St. Mary's Road, in the Norwood area, after work on Remembrance Day.
She was wearing a yellow jacket and had her phone flashlight switched on to make herself more visible to traffic when a turning car nearly rammed into her, she said. She had the right of way, and the pedestrian crossing light still had five seconds left on its countdown timer.
"This car, they get the green light [to turn] and they come towards me, and I start waving my flashlight around so they can see me a little bit more and he just kind of, like, swerves around me," Moiny told CBC's Information Radio on Thursday.
"I lose my mind in that moment and yelled, 'Do you not see me?'" Moiny said.
The driver of the car stopped in a nearby alleyway and yelled back at her, blaming her for the near collision, she says.
5 crashes in November alone
In the last two weeks alone, Winnipeg police have reported five car crashes involving pedestrians in news releases — twice as many as police released on in all of October.
That includes two collisions that left pedestrians injured in the last two days.
Just before 10 p.m. on Wednesday, a woman in her 30s was hit by a car as she tried to cross into eastbound traffic at Portage Avenue and Tylehurst Street, where Polo Park shopping centre is located.
She was taken to hospital in critical condition, police said in a Thursday news release. Her condition has since been upgraded to stable, but she has serious injuries from the collision, police say. The driver remained at the scene and co-operated with police, the release said.
And around 6:30 on Thursday morning, a man and a woman were hit as they were trying to cross Chief Peguis Trail, between Henderson Highway and Main Street, at a point where there is no pedestrian crosswalk.
Both were taken to hospital in unstable condition but have since been upgraded to stable, police said in a separate news release.
The driver in that case also stayed at the scene and was co-operative with police.
Both collisions are still being investigated, and no charges have been laid, police said.
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With files from Information Radio