Dear Editor,
Re: "Cyclists and dog owners in Richmond both bear responsibility for safety"
Letter writer Martin Hauck is absolutely right that we don't live a perfect world, hence why safety by design is so critically important. If we leave behaviour mostly to human choice to keep us safe, we increase the risk of the hazards that create danger.
Human factors professionals widely recognize the unreliability of warnings and superiority of design. This is illustrated by the various safety protocols that human factors and ergonomic professionals employ. The most common is called the Safety Hierarchy. The simplest and most common version, in order of effectiveness is:
- Design or redesign to reduce or eliminate the hazard;
- If #1 is not feasible, utilize a guard or barrier to separate the user from the hazard;
- If #2 is not feasible, then appropriate warnings.
In Bark Park, where dogs, people, bikes and other vehicles all come together, signs are the least effective method, yet have been most relied upon.
Dog owners certainly do have a responsibility to have control of their dogs regardless of being in a dog park or not. Some dogs are triggered by other dogs, food, moving bikes or other objects, so it's incumbent to provide a safe environment for everyone considering the Safety Hierarchy. Dogs need space to socialize, explore, run, walk - just like people.
Is Bark Park a microcosm of coming problems as the city continues to expand building multi-use paths (MUPs) bringing together increasing numbers of people, bikes, e-bikes, scooters, wheelchairs, dogs, etc. into one shared space?
The next experiment may be Steveston Highway once the newly constructed MUP starts being used.
Let's make the right choices and design high levels of safety into our public spaces.
Jerome Dickey
Richmond
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