A man was struck and killed by a truck on a dark, rural road early this morning in Innisfil.
Tonight, police are trying to find out why he was on the 10th Sideroad of Innisfil at about 5:45 a.m.
“We believe a male pedestrian, about 77 years old, was walking northbound in the dark predawn and was struck from behind by a northbound pick-up truck,” says South Simcoe Police Const. Rich Williamson.
Police say the man was killed on impact, but why he was walking along this road is what police are now trying to figure out. It's a rural road, with narrow shoulders and no lights. Police say he was walking in the middle of the lane when he was hit.
The “accident location is in a dip in the roadway. The driver would have come over the crest of the hill and had very little warning that the man was in the road. He really didn't have a chance,” Williamson says.
The man's shoes and a toque were scattered across the lanes of the road. The speed limit on the 10th Sideroad is 80 kilometres an hour and police say it took the driver several metres to slow down and stop his truck after he hit the pedestrian.
The 28-year-old driver of the truck was on his way to work at the time of the accident. He wasn't injured but was shaken up. Victim Services was called in to help.
“The incident like the one this morning would be hugely traumatic for anyone involved and anyone who would have come across the accident before emergency got there. It's just hugely traumatic,” says Marie McCallum, who is with Simcoe County Victim Services.
She says she often sees situations where both people involved are considered victims.
Police have identified the man killed as a 77 year old from Meaford, though they think he had been living in the Innisfil area. His van was found in a parking lot about five kilometres from where he was hit.
Police are still trying to notify his next of kin.
