Crashes between cyclists, pedestrians in Kelowna, Kamloops hit five-year low
Nearly half as many cyclists were hit by cars in Kelowna and Kamloops last year, a five-year low for each city, and part of a trend right across the province.
Last year in Kelowna 50 cyclists were involved in collisions with vehicles, well below recent highs of 98 cyclists hit in 2017 and 102 in 2018.
Kelowna ranks fourth in the province for most cyclists hit by vehicles from 2017 to 2021, but last year alone, it's tied with Saanich at sixth across B.C., according to an ICBC dataset.
The annual dataset includes only collisions reported to ICBC, so it might not account for all collisions between cyclists and vehicles.
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At 385 crashes in the last five years, it far outpaces Kamloops and other Okanagan cities, but with 300 kilometres of bike lanes, there's likely more cyclists in Kelowna than those other cities.
The most dangerous intersections for cyclists in the past five years include Gordon Drive and Springfield Road with eight collisions, Ethel Street and Harvey Avenue with seven, and Richter Street and Harvey Avenue also with seven.
Forty-two pedestrians were hit in Kelowna last year, tying 2020 for a five-year low. In the past five years, 298 pedestrians were hit by vehicles, according to ICBC data.
Pedestrian crashes even dipped to a five-year low across the province. At 1,307 pedestrians hit in 2021, it's less than half of the 2018 high of 3,200.
From 2017 to 2021, ICBC reports a total 11,649 collisions with pedestrians and 8,733 with cyclists.
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Vernon dropped to just eight pedestrians hit last year, from 19 in 2020. A five-year high in 2018 involved 37 pedestrians, and the city saw 119 pedestrians hit from 2017 to 2021.
Penticton jumped to 15 people hit last year, which is up from 2020's five-year low of eight.
In Kamloops, collisions with pedestrians are trending down from 41 in 2017 to 17 last year.
Eighty-six cyclists in Kamloops were in collisions with vehicles in the past five years, but 2021 and 2020 are tied at five-year lows for the city.
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With seven collisions reported to ICBC last year, it's a substantial drop from the five-year high of 27 in 2017.
In the past five years, collisions have been largely spread across the city, with the exception of Vernon Street and Tranquille Road where four cyclists have been involved in collisions.
Collisions with cyclists for the past five years have fluctuated between 10 and 17 per year in both Vernon and Penticton.
ICBC annual data sets can be found on its website here.
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