A CLOSER LOOK

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WEST END CRASH STATS REVEALED
Burrard & Davie and Denman & West Georgia Rank High

by John Streit
(click images to enlarge)

If you look at an Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) crash map of the West End, you may be shocked (or not) that almost every street has experienced some sort of collision in the past five years. 

Red and pink dots show crashes covering our neighbourhood. 

BURRARD AND DAVIE ALWAYS RANKS HIGH IN CRASHES .

Not surprising given the West End’s continued use by drivers to bypass downtown Vancouver traffic during rush hour, a post-COVID increase of people coming to the beaches and Stanley Park, and the growing number of gig worker-related vehicles employed by delivery and ride-share platforms – not to mention the many vehicles West Enders own.

In this edition of “A Closer Look,” we’re looking at some of the worst areas for crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists, and for areas with the most cases of property damage, and injury or death (casualties).

ICBC describes property damage as an event “resulting in material damage and no injury or fatality.” Casualty crashes are “crashes resulting in injury or fatality.”

ICBC shares these crash stats through a free-to-use platform called Tableau Public, where anyone can look at, create, and share digital visualizations based on ICBC’s data.

One downside is crash stats only go up to 2023. But they still paint an accurate enough picture of what’s happening on the streets of our neighbourhood. “A Closer Look” has left out Burrard and West Georgia numbers as the intersection is considered by most to be more “Downtown”, despite falling within the West End’s official neighbourhood border.

Casualty Crashes / 2019 to 2023

  1. Denman and West Georgia - 131

  2. Burrard and Davie- 112

  3. Burrard and Nelson – 54

  4. Davie and Thurlow – 47

  5. Denman and Robson – 30

PEDESTRIANS BEWARE AT DAVIE AND THURLOW.

Denman and West Georgia is a perennial hotspot for crashes as a feeder route to the Stanley Park Causeway and Lions Gate Bridge. It’s a big, scary, complicated intersection with high traffic volume and a lot of things happening at the same time, including tourists on bikes and scooters recently rented at several neighbouring businesses who are trying to navigate the crossing on their new rides. Even the most seasoned Vancouver drivers have to pay serious attention travelling through this intersection.

Crashes Involving Pedestrians / 2019 to 2023

  1. Burrard and Davie – 14

  2. Davie and Thurlow, Burrard and Nelson – 10

  3. Denman and Robson,  Robson and Thurlow – 7

  4. Broughton and Davie, Cardero and W. Georgia  - 6

You’ll see Burrard and Davie near St Paul’s Hospital ranks high across the four sets of stats. It’s another big downtown intersection with no vehicle turn signal in any direction. The pedestrian crosswalk delay has increased safety but if you’re a slower pedestrian, the countdown clock never seems long enough.

Property Damage Only / 2019 to 2023

  1. Denman and West Georgia – 281

  2. Burrard and Davie – 227

  3. Cardero and West Georgia- 219

  4. Burrard and Nelson  - 161

  5. Burrard and Robson  - 120

  6. Burrard and Pacific – 109

Once again, the tricky intersection of Denman and West Georgia tops the list. Burrard Street shows up multiple times at key and often congested entry points into the West End. Construction of the new Qmunity Centre building at Davie is adding to an already chaotic intersection.

Crashes Involving Cyclists / 2019 to 2023

  1. Burrard and Davie – 19

  2. Denman and West Georgia and Burrard and Harwood – 11

  3. Davie and Thurlow – 10

  4. Robson and Thurlow – 8

  5. Denman and Robson – 5

Despite having their own bike lanes (albeit not protected ones), cyclists must have their heads on a swivel at Burrard and Davie. The southbound bike lane on Burrard has the double trouble of drivers not shoulder checking and swerving through the bike lane to make a right onto Davie plus yellow/red light turners northbound on Burrard thinking the coast is clear if they don’t see any motorized vehicles.

Now, ICBC does stress with this information that crash location is self-reported and not always verifiable. Many incidents on our streets, especially when it comes to cyclists, are not reported. The insurance corporation says the five-year average for intersection crashes in the Lower Mainland is 71,472. Almost 43,000 people are hurt annually with around 28 deaths.

The worst intersection for crashes in the Lower Mainland is the Alex Fraser Bridge and Cliveden Ave. & the Cliveden Avenue off ramp at Highway 91 at 442.

No West End locations show up on ICBC’s Lower Mainland top ten list.

West Ender John Streit has been a B.C. radio, TV and online journalist
for more than 20 years. You can listen to John anchor
Global News mornings 530am to 11am on 730/CKNW in Vancouver.