iN VIDEO: Second pedestrian nearly struck after fatal Kamloops collision
After a pedestrian was fatally hit by a truck in Kamloops Saturday night, a driver recorded a close call with another pedestrian just metres away.
Geoff Easterbrook was slowly driving past the scene on Victoria Street West on Saturday evening.
Emergency crews were at the scene, so he slowed to pass as he headed toward downtown. As he approached the Mustard Seed further east down the street, he nearly hit a man in a wheelchair in the street.
READ MORE: Pedestrian dies after being hit by truck in downtown Kamloops
"What you saw in the video is pretty close to what I saw," Easterbrook said of how dark the street was at the time. "I was doing like 15 km/h through the accident scene. He was hard to see. I could've just smoked that guy."
The person in the wheelchair is only visible when the truck comes directly up to him, when he then pushes himself up onto the sidewalk as Easterbrook drives around him.
He shared his dashcam footage with iNFOnews.ca hoping to raise awareness of how often a collision with a pedestrian is a risk on Victoria Street West.
The person who was hit around 7 p.m., Oct. 15, died later in hospital.
The identity of the victim is not known, but people walk the street often, coming to and from shelter facilities, a supportive housing facility or a nearby day space for the homeless.
Another man known by the homeless community was hit and killed by a train earlier this month near the Victoria Street West corridor.
ICBC data shows no pedestrian collisions along that street from 2016 to 2020, but Easterbrook said he drives that road multiple times each day where pedestrians often cross outside of crosswalks.
He's concerned that more people could be hurt or killed in the area if drivers aren't careful.
"It's a terrible irony because of the timing of the fence along the railway going up," he said. "There's multiple crosswalks there and they're not being used."
Two new crosswalks were added at either ends of the street since 2020 and the city is installing a new fence on the street's western end to prevent trespassing onto the railway.
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