There are ongoing concerns over pedestrian safety after at least eight people were struck in Halifax-area crosswalks last week- the same week Halifax police released some alarming statistics about crosswalk collisions.

Statistics show a significant increase in the number of vehicle-pedestrian collisions in the past year, despite efforts by the city to improve pedestrian visibility.

There were 39 vehicle-pedestrian collisions in Halifax in November 2014, compared to 15 in November 2013. Thirty-seven of those incidents took place in the Halifax Regional Police jurisdiction while two incidents happened in RCMP jurisdiction.

Police say 229 pedestrians were struck by vehicles between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, compared to 144 pedestrians struck during the same time period in 2013.

Sixty per cent of the collisions occurred in crosswalks. Four people passed away as a result of their injuries while nine others were seriously injured, including Ella Rudolph, who was hit by a truck while in a crosswalk more than a year ago.

“My tailbone hurts. I can hardly go on long drives. It constantly hurts, like, I mean, agony and pain all the time,” says Rudolph.

But it’s not just physical injuries that continue to plague her. She says she saw someone else get hit at the same spot last week and memories of her own collision came flooding back.

“I was so scared. It just brought back everything that happened to me. It was awful, really,” says Rudolph.

“I’m scared to death every time I go through a crosswalk. I’m always forever looking behind me, beside me. I’m very paranoid every time I go out in it.”

The city’s Crosswalk Safety Advisory Committee formed last year has implemented a few changes, including adding zebra stripes to more crosswalks and allowing crosswalk flags, but the committee says it’s still too early to tell if the measures are effective.

“Most of these changes rely on behaviour change,” says committee chair Janet Barlow. “Behaviour change takes a long time to happen and we could be looking at two or three years before we can actually say ‘OK, there’s been a change.’”

Crosswalk safety advocate Norm Collins says pedestrian safety is a shared responsibility and that both motorists and pedestrians should be vigilant.

“Put your cellphones away, stop texting, take your earbuds out when you’re crossing a crosswalk,” says Collins.

He adds that crosswalk flags are one way to improve pedestrian safety and that more communities are choosing to fund the flags.

“It was our thought that crosswalk flags would be a way to make the crosswalks more visible and pedestrians, if they chose to use them, to be better seen,” says Collins.

Barlow says the committee plans to host a crosswalk information session and consultation early next year to advise the public about the committee’s activities and get some feedback.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Priya Sam