While many people in Vancouver laughed at the “bricks” laid out to help pedestrians cross the road safely, one person was certainly not amused. Lawyer Kyla Lee is calling the project a “disaster.”
“Let’s be clear, what they’ve done here is facilitate criminal offences,” she said.
Just before April Fools’ Day, the Vision Zero Vancouver team hung baskets with foam bricks on opposite sides of the busy Granville Island crosswalk and an intersection at Nicola and Nelson streets. However, the installation was not a joke. Pedestrians in the area can pick up the brick as they walk across the street and wave it around to ensure drivers stop.
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While she agrees that drivers should stop for pedestrians at a crosswalk, Lee said, “Let’s not devolve our society to the point where we’re actively threatening drivers.”
“When you threaten to use a weapon to cause harm to somebody or do harm to their property, that is a criminal offence,” she explained. “If you were to walk across the street, waving a brick at a car… presumably you’re going to smash their window, or dent their hood or — god forbid — beat the shit out of the driver because they didn’t stop for you in the crosswalk when you have the right of way, that is a criminal offence.”
