Pedestrians, cyclists at risk: CAA tracks 600,000 near-misses nationwide

CAA has released a new study that shows Canadian pedestrians and cyclists experience high-risk near-misses daily.

A seven-month study commissioned by CAA shows over 600,000 near-misses occurred across 20 intersections throughout the country.

They note that while actual collisions are recorded by police, near-misses are not.

AI technology and cameras were used to analyze intersections across the country in real time. The recordings show that one in every 770 pedestrians and one in every 500 cyclists experience a high-risk near-miss.

The automotive organization says this is the largest dataset of its kind in Canada.

According to the study, near-misses most often involve vehicles making a right turn, while left-turning vehicles were involved in more than a third of near-misses.

Thousands of pedestrians make use of Canadian intersections every day, this means that at least three serious incidents occur at a single location daily.

CAA says that some solutions to these high-risk near-misses are dedicated left-turn lanes, allowing pedestrians to start crossing before vehicles are cleared to move, and advanced green lights for left-turning vehicles.

READ MORE: Hamilton has the top two worst roads in Ontario, CAA finds