Warm winter weather and "aggressive" behaviour are some of the things that are being blamed on the surge in pedestrian deaths so far this year.

But Toronto police Const. Hugh Smith said regardless of the reasons, everyone has a responsibility to share when it comes to safety.

"It's a matter of public safety and everyone has to take a responsible place on the road and be responsible for how they're crossing. Everyone has to learn to slow down a little bit more and communicate a little bit more," he told CTV Toronto Wednesday, hours after the city counted its fourth pedestrian death of the year.

A woman in her 30s was struck by a vehicle after she crossed Dufferin Street, just south of Eglinton Avenue, on Wednesday at around 7 a.m.

Police say the woman did not cross at a traffic signal, even though there were two crossings in close proximity to where she was hit.

A southbound car swerved to avoid the woman at the last minute but the pedestrian was clipped by the side mirror, Smith said.

The woman fell, hitting her head on the ground. She suffered massive blood loss and was pronounced dead at the scene, Smith said.

She is the ninth pedestrian victim in a string of fatal collisions that have occurred throughout the Greater Toronto Area in the last nine days.

Among them:

  • A woman was killed in Vaughan Tuesday afternoon after she was struck by a car as she crossed Rutherford Road.
  • On Monday, a 60-year-old woman was killed after being struck by a TTC bus on Eglinton Avenue by Mount Pleasant Avenue.
  • A 75-year-old man was killed in a hit-and-run Monday night as he walked along Lakeshore Boulevard. Peel Regional Police arrested a suspect a short time later.

"There are aggressive drivers and aggressive pedestrians," Smith said. "There's no single person to blame here."

Stats

According to the City of Toronto, pedestrian deaths haven't been this high since 2006 when the death toll in January reached four.

"It looks like we're having another unfortunate year," said Mike Brady, the city's manager of traffic safety.

Brady said there are between 55,000 and 60,000 vehicular accidents a year - about 2,100 of which involve pedestrians.

He said trends have not shown a particular month to be especially bad for pedestrians though he said that historically there are more pedestrian deaths in February than in January.

Some other stats:

  • 50 per cent of pedestrians cross the street in an area that is not controlled by a traffic signal
  • 50 per cent of drivers do not yield the right of way to pedestrians
  • In 75 per cent of pedestrian collisions, the pedestrian is attentive, not distracted and not intoxicated

Possible reasons

Coun. Bill Saundercook, who is co-chair of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee, said there are several things that can distract a driver or pedestrian but that speed always makes things worse.

"The radio, the phone, coffee, dirty windshield - all these can be a recipe for disaster with increased speed," he said in an interview with ctvtoronto.ca.

Pedestrians are not innocent either, he said, as the stats prove that many of them are guilty of crossing the street away from signalized intersections.

"That's a serious problem, particularly in multiple lanes where drivers are driving fast," he said.

But at least for this month, the weather can't be blamed for the surge in accidents.

The roads have mostly been dry in Toronto as the city has been hit with milder than usual temperatures.

Smith said the dry weather tricks people into thinking they can rush to their destination if they're running late.

"During this time of year we usually get a wake up call with the weather which reminds us to leave earlier and take our time but we haven't had the snow so we haven't had that driving attitude change," he said.

Saundercook said he has introduced a motion in council that speaks to the issue of road safety. It is currently under review by city staff.

The motion suggests reducing speeds in school zones and child-friendly neighbourhoods by 10 kilometres an hour.

He said police are usually flexible with drivers, not ticketing them if they are driving within 10 kilometres of the posted speed limit. His motion would either force police to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for speeders or make them more likely to issue a ticket to people who are driving over 50 kilometres an hour (assuming the speed had been reduced by 10 kilometres to 40 kilometres an hour).

Saundercook also suggested painting curbs red in areas that are not near a signalized intersection.

"Just so that pedestrians are reminded of the dangers," he said.