A pedestrian who narrowly missed serious injury or possibly death when he walked into a Toronto fire truck with its sirens blaring is being scorned on social media.
A dashcam video posted on YouTube on Monday appears to show a person attempting to cross the median at St. Clair Avenue West and Caledonia Road when he bangs into the side of a fire truck driving over the streetcar tracks.
A firefighter in the passenger side seat seems to throw up his arms in frustration before giving the pedestrian a stern talk.
Moments later, the video shows another firefighter getting out of the truck to check on the pedestrian who appeared uninjured.
READ MORE: Toronto police launch week-long ‘Step Up and Be Safe’ road safety campaign
The YouTube account owner, who declined to be identified when contacted by Global News, said the incident occurred Sunday afternoon. They said it appeared the pedestrian was wearing headphones.
Frank Ramagnano, president of the Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association, said the video is “shocking.”
WATCH: Dashcam video posted online appears to show a pedestrian walking into the side of a fire truck while it was crossing streetcar tracks with lights and sirens on
“He could have been seriously hurt – if not killed – if he would have fallen and got underneath the wheels of a truck that size,” he said, adding firefighters are often looking ahead to navigate through traffic and not focusing as much on the sides of the truck.
“With the smart phones now … it’s making it extremely easy for (pedestrians) to walk downtown Toronto, have the earphones on, kind of be in their own little world and not paying attention and that’s what happened here.”
READ MORE: Why do Toronto pedestrian accidents peak at the end of November?
Ramagnano said drivers and pedestrians distracted by technology can cause delays for emergency crews responding to calls by not moving out of the way for responding vehicles.
The video has since received a host of negative comments on Reddit.
“Unbelievably common, people would be shocked at how oblivious people are to the big flashy truck,” one Reddit poster wrote.
“When it’s one distracted pedestrian walking blindly into traffic, we call them a ‘moron.’ When it’s a whole city of similarly distracted pedestrians walking blindly into traffic, it’s ‘victim blaming,'” said another.
The incident comes as Toronto police launched their annual week-long road safety campaign.
Authorities said there have been 37 pedestrian fatalities in Toronto so far this year.
Police are reminding both drivers, pedestrians and cyclists to pay attention to their surroundings as pedestrian-related traffic injuries normally goes up in the month of November.
Mark Carcasole contributed to this report.
- ‘I will never go back’: Ontario family doctor says new AI notetaking saved her job
- Ontario byelections ‘temperature check’ arrives for Ford and Crombie
- TSX flat as oil falls, U.S. stock markets mixed after Fed holds interest rates steady
- Panthers head back to work, resting and waiting for Bruins-Leafs winner
Comments