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TORONTO -- With his cellphone pressed to his ear as he jaywalked across a busy section of Queen St. E., a Woodbridge man was likely completely oblivious to the TTC streetcar that was barrelling toward him early Sunday.
In the blink of an eye, the 35-year-old became the latest victim in a deadly wave of collisions involving pedestrians on GTA roads in the last two weeks.
And as of late Sunday night, Toronto Police said the unnamed man was just barely clinging to life in a downtown hospital.
“He literally walked right out in front of the streetcar,” said Sgt. Burrows, of Traffic Services.
He said the man was attempting to cross Queen “mid-block” around 12:15 a.m. when he was hit by the streetcar, just west of the traffic lights at Broadview Ave.
Police across the GTA have issued warnings to pedestrians in an effort to end the string of fatalities: 10 before Sunday’s mishap.
The victim was rushed to hospital with life-threatening head injuries.
“It’s most unfortunate,” Brad Ross, TTC spokesman, said of the accident, one of three involving TTC vehicles in the last six days. “Our thoughts and prayers are with him and we hope that he is able to recover fully.”
He said pedestrians need to keep in mind that streetcars are extremely different than regular vehicles.
“Streetcars are on rails, so it’s impossible to swerve and avoid a pedestrian,” Ross explained.
“They are also quite heavy, so it’s difficult for them to stop quickly.”
A second man in his 30s was also left fighting for his life Sunday after his car was T-boned by a streetcar in the city’s west end.
And a week ago, Leena Kopperoinen, 60, was struck by a turning TTC bus as she tried to cross Eglinton Ave. E. at Mount Pleasant Rd.
“Our operators are well trained to look for pedestrians and automobiles that may come into their path, and to do their best to avoid collision, but from time to time this does happen,” Ross said.
The Queen St. accident also happened just a few blocks from where Chen Chung Shao was struck and killed by a truck on Broadview Ave. at Danforth Ave. on Friday.
The 57-year-old, who had polio and used crutches to get around, was the 10th pedestrian in 11 days to be killed on GTA roads.
chris.doucette@sunmedia.ca