The wheelchair user who died Wednesday morning after a
collision with a cargo van
was a Perley Health resident who frequently made the trip to the Ottawa Train Yards mall.
“It is with deep sadness that we share news of a tragic loss within our community,” said Perley Health in a posting on its Facebook page on Wednesday.
“Earlier today (Wednesday) a resident was involved in a fatal accident at a nearby shopping centre, a frequent destination for the independent individual. Our hearts go out to the resident’s family, friends, and loved ones, as well as to the entire Perley Health community.”
The collision victim was not named in the Perley’s message.
The Ottawa Paramedic Service said responders arrived at the scene at about 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday after a person using a wheelchair was struck by a cargo van on Industrial Avenue near the Ottawa Train Yards.
The victim, a woman in her 60s, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The cargo van driver, a man in his 20s, was not injured, said police.
Perley Health, formerly known as the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre, is home to more than 600 seniors and veterans living in independent apartments or receiving long-term care. The Perley campus at 1750 Russell Rd. is also a centre for research, education, and clinical and therapeutic services.
On Thursday, there was a bouquet of white flowers on a patch of grass beside Industrial Road.
“I didn’t know your name but I saw the silence you left behind,” the note read.
A short distance away at a Circle K convenience store, store manager Toni Aoun said the victim was a regular customer, who he described as a “super nice person.”
“We would chat each time she came in,” Aoun said. “You build a relationship with your customers.”
Over the years, Aoun said the woman would come two to three times a week to buy lottery tickets and water. He said he would often walk around to help put away her bags and open the door to help her out.
“I’m extremely sad this happened,” he said.
At the nearby Figaro’s Coffeehouse, server Sarah Whamond recalled when she was first alerted about the incident.
The university student said customers came into the coffeehouse looking “startled.” Whamond said they had seen the woman being ejected from her wheelchair and were shocked and affected by what they witnessed.
“We knew something bad happened,” said Whamoud.
The safety of growing numbers of road users on “micromobility devices” such as e-scooters, e-bikes, and electric wheelchairs have to be taken into account, said Pamela Fuselli, the president of Parachute, the injury-prevention advocacy group that uses the Vision Zero framework aimed at eliminating serious traffic injuries and fatalities.
“We want to give people as many options as possible, so they don’t have to take a car,” said Fuselli.
However, wheelchairs are low to the ground compared to scooters and bikes, and wheelchair users face the same risk factors as children because they are lower down, she said. A car hits a pedestrian or cyclist in the legs and lower torso, while a child or wheelchair user is less visible and more likely to sustain a head injury or an injury to the upper torso.
The Vision Zero framework, which was developed in Sweden in the late 1990s, aims to engineer the urban environment to eliminate serious and fatal injuries.
Measures include improving sight lines, separating bike lanes, introducing pedestrian islands and slowing down traffic through road design and technology such as speed cameras. Traffic flow through neighbourhoods adjoining fast-moving roadways also needs to be considered, said Fuselli.
Minor collisions will still happen, but there will be far fewer serious and fatal collisions.
It’s a slow process, and it needs the cooperation of municipalities when they design or re-design streets, said Fuselli.
“Nowhere near zero. But it took Sweden 20 years to get to near zero. This is not fast.”
The Industrial Road death was the second fatality in two days.
On Tuesday, one person was pronounced dead at the scene and a woman was taken to hospital in critical condition following a
serious collision
at the intersection of Innes Road and Esprit Drive in Orléans at around 2:10 p.m.
Ottawa Police Service fatal collision investigators said they are looking for any witnesses to the crash who have not yet spoken to police, or people who may have dashcam video. People can contact the fatal collisions squad at 613-236-1222, extension 2345.
