Victim hit and dragged by SUV, protected by wheelchair
KELOWNA – A Kelowna woman’s motorized wheelchair protected her from serious injuries when she was hit and dragged by a SUV behind the Orchard Park Mall Saturday afternoon.
RCMP Const. Troy Bevan says the woman was crossing Springfield Road in a marked crosswalk between Cooper Road and Dilworth Road when she was struck.
Bevan says it was a very slow speed collision.
“The vehicle pushed the wheelchair onto it’s side with the lady still in the wheelchair then pushed the wheelchair for another ten feet on the ground,” he says. “The vehicle came to rest on top the wheelchair so the front corner of the bumper was pushing down on the chair.”
Because the wheelchair was motorized it was very sturdy and actually acted as a cage for the woman, he says.
“The lady, even though she was essentially pinned under the SUV she wasn’t actually in contact with the vehicle herself.”
The woman, whose age isn’t being released by the RCMP, was taken by ambulance to Kelowna General Hospital for assessment. RCMP don’t know what if any injuries she has.
The Kelowna woman behind the wheel of the SUV was handed a ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
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2 responses
I lived in Kelowna for twenty years….I know a lady that was hit twice by a car. She was on a motorized wheelchair as well…she assumed that people turning a corner can brake fast when they dash out onto the crosswalk….I watched her one day and she never looks to see what’s around her…I agree with Buck…Ktown is full of crappy drivers, young and old.
Welcome to Kelowna, the capital of Canada’s Worst Drivers.