Over the weekend a woman was hit by a semi-trailer near the intersection of Hastings and Richards.

Unfortunately, she died shortly following the collision. http://www.theprovince.com/news/Woman+killed+semi+truck+West+Hastings+Richards+early+Saturday/9596233/story.html.

It’s Vancouver’s first pedestrian death in 2014.

And it’s nothing short of tragic.

This really is a heart-breaking accident. It’s also a timely reminder of the dangers faced by pedestrians every day on our city’s streets.

On average every year nine pedestrians are killed and over 500 injured on Vancouver’s streets.

That’s a lot of carnage.

But what makes matters worse is that a lot of these accidents are avoidable.

Now more than ever something needs to be done to make our city’s streets safer for pedestrians.

I wrote about this very subject last week. (http://www.mccombwitten.com/blog/vancouver-bc-pedestrain-safety.cfm).

And while it’s great to see the City spending some serious coin on improvements, there’s still  a lot to be done before our streets will be truly safe for pedestrians.

So MOTORISTS please take extra care when you get behind the wheel.

Don’t forget, a car can be a lethal weapon.