Halifax Regional Police says there has been an increase in the number of pedestrian and motor vehicle collisions in 2026 so far. “From January to July in 2025, there were 55 vehicle pedestrian collisions and in 2026, from January to July, there were 74 vehicle pedestrian collisions,” says Const. Martin Cromwell. The jump in numbers is a concerning trend for Norm Collins, who has been advocating for crosswalk safety since 2007. He created the crosswalk flags program in 2009 with hopes of improving these statistics. “Obviously it’s trending the wrong way. It’s the same way as Councillor (Sam) Austin says at the budget meeting, 2025 was worse than 2024. If people knew the solution to pedestrian safety – I don’t think there is a city in the world that has solved that problem – but I think there were like 160 collisions last year, like that cannot be acceptable,” says Collins. Collins says data shows the majority of these types of collisions happen at intersections and on arterial and collector roads, like Quinpool and Robie streets in Halifax. “Everybody should be concerned. Certainly, we are concerned for those who are injured. There were two police reports this week of people struck, one on Herring Cove Road and one on Quinpool. Both went to the hospital with serious injuries, and you think of them as individuals, think of their families and think of the trauma for the drivers,” says Collins. Police say these collisions could happen at any time, anywhere, and for a number of reasons, such as speeding. “Impaired driving being one, distracted driving, weather conditions are another,” says Cromwell. Collins says there has been progress in terms of efforts by the Halifax Regional Municipality with speed bumps and lights at crosswalks but there is still work to be done. “Clearly the progress hasn’t been enough. As the issue has continued to rise and then the other place I would go is enforcement, the number of tickets, summary offence tickets by HRP and HRM have declined dramatically over the years,” Collins says. “They’re down like 80 per cent from 2012, down 50 per cent from you know five to ten years ago. The 2024 road safety strategy is clear that enforcement is a critical issue to changing behaviour to improving safety on our roads.” Halifax Regional Police says any type of collision is of concern and educating the public is important. “We do a lot of practice assignments and engage with the community to try to promote road safety, pedestrian safety. So that’s something that we do all year round,” says Cromwell. Cromwell notes motorists can slow down, avoid distracted driving and practice defensive driving while pedestrians should use crosswalks and make eye contact with drivers before crossing. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
