UPDATE: Elderly man dead in Hwy 33 scooter accident identified

KELOWNA – An 89-year-old Kelowna man hit by a pick-up truck while trying to cross Highway 33 in Rutland Wednesday morning has died as a result of his injuries.

The William Roloff was crossing the busy road at Byrden Road on a motorized scooter at 11:30 a.m.

It’s an intersection not meant to be used by pedestrians, which is what people on scooters are considered according to municipal traffic laws. It’s essentially an uncontrolled intersection with no crosswalk and no traffic lights. There are stop signs but not for traffic on Highway 33.

Const. Kris Clark with the Kelowna RCMP says Roloff was trying to cross the four lanes of traffic. He had made it across the eastbound lanes and the traffic in the inner westbound lane had stopped for him.

Witnesses say the traffic in the outer westbound lane was still flowing. Roloff was hit by the driver of a GMC Sierra, throwing the victim off his scooter and onto the street.

He suffered serious head injuries and was rushed to hospital in critical condition. He died later that afternoon.

Alcohol has been ruled out as a factor, however investigators are looking at speed as possibly playing a significant role.

A detailed scene survey was done by an RCMP collision reconstructionist on Wednesday, but the analysis of the information gathered isn’t finished yet.

“The investigation is in its infancy and it is too early to determine where any charges will be laid,” according to Const. Clark.

Anyone that could help the RCMP with their investigation are asked to call Const. Schneider with the Central Okanagan Traffic Services at 250-980-5353.

You can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), leaving a tip online or by texting your tip to CRIMES (274637) ktown.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca, call 250-718-0428 or tweet @AdamProskiw.

– This story was updated at 11:28 a.m. to include an update from the RCMP.

– This story was updated at 2:13 p.m. January 17, 2014 to include the name and hometown of the deceased, released by the B.C. Coroners Service.