“Blind side right turn” claims another life
Impact caught on camera, 81 year old woman dies
A horrifying news clip aired by CTV on February 12 shows the moment before an 81-year-old pedestrian was hit and killed by a dump truck at a Toronto crosswalk.
The clip, obtained by CTV from an area surveillance camera in the Wilson Avenue neighbourhood, is paused a moment before impact. Police said the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
“These blind-side right hand turns by dump trucks and cement trucks are proving to be a disturbing recurrence in urban areas,” says Philip Fletcher, president of the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario (TTSAO).
“These events demonstrate a lack of dutiful care by the drivers, a failure to use their mirrors properly. Something must be done to correct for the obvious lack of knowledge and skill by drivers in these situations.”
Fletcher noted in late 2024 that the industry had seen three similar occurrences in only two months, including the death of a cyclist who was hit by a truck turning right in Hamilton.
While he says that to the best of his knowledge, none of the drivers involved in these “life ending incidents” were graduates of any of the TTSAO’s member schools, the association is so concerned about frequency of the collisions that it will discuss the development of a specialized training module at its February 28th board meeting.
“A short course for the drivers of those particular vehicles (dump trucks and cement trucks) could be developed and offered. These should never happen, never,” Fletcher emphasizes.
