A driver has been charged after a crossing guard was struck by a vehicle in Halifax Wednesday morning.

Halifax Regional Police say the crossing guard was helping several pedestrians cross Radcliffe Drive when he was struck around 8:45 a.m.

The 74-year-old man was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The 24-year-old driver has been charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and for not cleaning the car’s windshield properly.

The man is due to appear in Halifax provincial court at a later date.

For crossing guard Pete Roberts, the news from this morning is too close for comfort.

“He's a friend of mine, and it happened on the next street over,” Roberts said. “It makes me nervous.”

Every day he sees drivers going too fast, distracted by their phones and not paying attention.

He's has had his own share of close calls with vehicles and just doesn't understand it.

“I'm almost six foot, dressed in orange, and I'm still a human target,” Roberts said.

According to numbers released by Halifax Regional Police, 203 pedestrians were struck by vehicles in the Halifax area from January to November last year, and of those incidents, 63 per cent of them happened in a crosswalk.

Three pedestrians died after being hit during that same time period and eight suffered serious injuries.

And as recently as Wednesday, police say there were two hit-and-run incidents reported in which a vehicle struck a pedestrian then took off.

For Halifax Regional Police, making both drivers and pedestrians aware of the dangers of distraction is key.

“That includes reducing speed, having your windshields cleared, and being switched on and away from distractions like smart watches beeping and cell phones and everything else,” said Sgt. Mo Chediac of the HRP traffic services unit.

For pedestrian safety advocates like Martyn Williams, it's not just about awareness, it’s about infrastructure.

At a corner that has the second highest incidents in the whole of the municipality, Williams points out the need for the city to implement what's known as “protected walk time.”

“That's for a brief period, 20 seconds or so, when traffic can't turn, they get a red light, and pedestrians can cross safely,” Williams said.

Williams says the city just isn't investing enough in measures to improve safety on roads and in crosswalks.

Roberts doesn't know what else it will take to make him feel more safe on the job; in fact, he's thinking about not doing it anymore

“I dunno,” he said. “Is it worth my safety?”

Police say this isn’t a one-way street. Pedestrians can also be distracted and often are sometimes texting or just not paying attention before they step out.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Heidi Petracek.