WARNING: Disturbing Content.
Exclusive video of Wednesday’s pedestrian getting hit by a van in Etobicoke. Good news is the victim is going to be okay and a driver was charged. But residents say it’s been a problem for years. Full story on @NEWSTALK1010 pic.twitter.com/FC4RgWUp0A
— Lucas Meyer (@meyer_lucas) May 23, 2019
A video posted by Lucas Meyer of NewsTalk1010 is very upsetting to watch but it is a vivid lesson to drivers and pedestrians alike about how the slightest inattention can lead to a catastrophe. In this case, which occurred Wednesday on the Queensway at Milton St in Etobicoke, the driver is hurtling along this four-lane speedway in what must be a zombie-like trance. He fails to see the crosswalk, fails to see the woman crossing and doesn’t even get the brakes on until she is flying through the air. It is very shocking. He or she has been charged, of course. The only thing that can be said in the driver’s favour is that it wasn’t a hit and run.
TOUGH CASE
There is an even tougher lesson for pedestrians. Social media writers are saying, correctly, that it is always the driver’s responsibility not to hit someone no matter the circumstances. It’s true. But that’s no consolation after you have been run down. Bulldog readers know that the approach recommended here is to behave like every driver is out to kill you. There can be no distraction or sense of real safety until one is on the other sidewalk. That means the eyes must be on a constant swivel to monitor traffic in both directions all the time.
