The thing that you have to keep in mind is that Canadian roads (and, presumably, American roads, too) were designed for a very different transportation culture than the one that exists today. In many cases, they were built for horses and carriages, and retrofitted to motor vehicles that grew up in a much less populated country. No, they didn’t work well in the 50s, either, but the density of cars was low enough, and the kinds of people who drove were different enough, that it kinda sorta worked. But as the populations have grown, and as the culture has become more high strung, and driving has become a necessity for many people (and as vehicles have gotten larger, taller, and more fortress-like), navigating the streets has gotten riskier for all involved.

And no, it won’t get fixed, because North Americans hate change, and we would rather give a small number of millionaires and billionaires tax cuts than actually spend money on social infrastructure in any kind of meaningful or thought out way.