'Vancouver drivers are terrible': Kits mom pleads for road safety after close calls

A mother in the Kits neighbourhood issued a plea to residents and Vancouver drivers in the hopes of raising awareness for road safety after a few close calls.

On the Kitsilano Community Facebook group, Céline Mchls posted what she called a plea.

“I witnessed two cars today running through a red light, with the first one going through the red light well into the pedestrian time, through the Balaclava intersection on 4th,” her post began. 

She suggested that if she had started her bike earlier, the car would’ve taken her and her son out on the way to daycare.

“I understand that we are all keen to get to work/school/wherever else you’re going at 8:30 a.m. in the morning, but is it really worth killing someone over?”

She pointed out that some road users are more vulnerable than others.

“The reality is that bikes are more vulnerable than cars, and that in an accident, you will be the one walking away with a death on your conscience. I do not wish this on anyone.”

She also asked that people on the road take a deep breath and look out for one another, something that isn’t happening nearly enough on Vancouver streets, as the VPD has reported a spike in pedestrian fatalities.

Mchls agreed to chat with Daily Hive Urbanized about the situation in her neighbourhood and at large.

“There are truly worse things in life than being late a few minutes”

Mchls told Daily Hive Urbanized why she decided to make the post, which concluded with, “There are truly worse things in life than being late a few minutes.”

“I’ve been on my bike way more in the summer, and I’ve had so many near misses. I take all the bike lanes or bike routes that I have access to, and yet I still face really reckless driving on he road from cars and taxis.”

The day before we spoke with her, she mentioned that she was riding her bike with her son when she had a close call, which only heightened her fear due to concern for her son’s safety.

“I’ve been in Vancouver for 13 years. I have seen the car traffic increase, but the infrastructure is not developed at all.”

She admitted that there have been some improvements for bus lanes and bike lanes, but not enough to keep up with the demand.

The Kitsilano mother pointed out the main routes people take on bikes, such as 3rd Avenue, 8th Avenue, and possibly 10th Avenue. Mchls, having done some research, pointed out that the ICBC website shows that crashes and accident reports are often along bike routes.

Mchls post also suggested that things are much better where she’s from: Brussels.

“I don’t notice the same recklessness on the road.”

She said something that many Vancouverites will probably relate to: that she feels there’s a level of contempt on the road.

She also said something that many pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers will likely resonate with, “I’m sorry, Vancouver drivers are terrible.”

She believes there’s something about the training that needs to change, noting that the driver training books from Brussels are significantly thicker than those used to teach people how to drive in B.C.

What might spark real change on the roads?

Vision Zero Vancouver has made it a mission to advocate for road safety. It recently put out a billboard related to road safety, highlighting the vulnerability of cyclists on the road in correlation with Vancouver drivers.

We contacted Vision Zero in response to some of the concerns from Mchls, and it offered a volunteer, Jade Buchanan, who had a lot to say about the issues that the Kitsilano mom was trying to shed light on.

Buchanan got involved with Vision Zero following a horrific car crash at Cornwall and Arbutus a few years ago. Two cars had collided, and one of the cars jumped the curb, hitting a little girl who was standing on some grass beyond the sidewalk.

“We know that the three leading causes of car crashes are intoxication, speed, and distracted driving,” he said.

“All three of those are obviously preventable. You certainly observe a lot of people driving in Kitsilano and other parts of Vancouver in excess of the speed limits almost very regularly,” Buchanan said, adding that they take the speed gun out and see it all the time.

We asked Buchanan about the work he does with Vision Zero and what actions can be taken to prevent needless road deaths. While raising awareness is one thing, Buchanan suggests that education hasn’t necessarily been effective.

“Back to those three leading causes. Everybody knows those three things are illegal, and it doesn’t seem to have a significant impact.”

We asked him about enforcement. Buchanan stated that increased enforcement, such as installing more safety cameras, is an effective tool for reducing speeding.

“If they’re well-advertised, they have a preventative effect.”

He believes that once somebody gets a ticket, it generally tends to change their behaviour.

Another essential factor in making substantial changes to road safety is political will. He called out the former B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth for not doing enough.

Buchanan suggests that one thing governments can do is lower the speed limit to 30 km/h in residential neighbourhoods, which would be a step in the right direction.

He suggested that Mchls’ post was potentially a powerful one, because we need people like her to make change.

What is being done?

In response to our request for comment, ICBC said that it’s committed to making roads safer for British Columbians.

“In 2023/24, we invested $51 million in road safety initiatives and loss management programs, targeting key risk areas such as distracted driving, high-risk driving behaviours, speeding, and impaired driving. Our efforts focus on preventing crashes by promoting safer driving habits, enhancing road design, and encouraging responsible speeds,” ICBC said in a statement.

“To further reduce crash risk, we increased our annual investment in road improvement projects to $10 million in 2023. We also share our engineering expertise and crash data with municipalities and the province to help identify high-risk locations and implement safety-focused road design changes.”

Buchanan says there are several ways you can make a difference.

“It’s just like any other political movement. It takes sustained pressure, and it takes a lot of voices. Using 311, reporting to the city, sending emails to your city councillor, asking for a meeting with your city councillor, sending an email to your MP, all of those little acts that don’t take a ton of effort accumulate into the pressure we need for change.”