That information was recounted Monday on the first day of Owen Patrick Kelly’s trial in Victoria provincial court. Kelly is charged under the Motor Vehicle Act with driving without due care and attention.
On the morning of May 12, 2011, Kelly struck Virginia Dorothy Little in a crosswalk on West Saanich Road.
Little, who was on her way to her insurance company with her husband’s death certificate in her hand, died that evening.
Crown witness Suzanne Schiller testified she was driving on West Saanich Road and saw Little walk up to the pole and push the button to activate the flashing lights at the crosswalk. She appeared to be in a hurry, said Schiller.
Little walked toward the crosswalk, then turned around and walked back and looked up at the lights, testified Schiller.
Then without looking, Little took two to three steps into the crosswalk and was hit.
“She didn’t look. She just stepped out,” Schiller told prosecutor Paula Donnachie.
Schiller heard a loud noise and saw Little lying on the road three to four metres ahead of the truck. The driver got out and looked under his truck for about two seconds, she said.
“Then he stood up. He looked straight ahead and saw her lying there and ran to her,” Schiller testified.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Peter Firestone, Schiller agreed the collision happened very quickly.
“You were right there,” said Firestone. “The pedestrian without warning steps into the path of the oncoming truck.”
“It was a split second,” said Schiller.
Central Saanich Cpl. Ondine Easson was the first officer on the scene. She testified that she saw a pickup truck stopped with its rear wheels on the crosswalk and a woman lying on the road being cared for by several people.
Easson talked to the driver, who was obviously shaken and upset but co-operative. Kelly told her he did not see the pedestrian, Easson testified.
“He was looking at the job site across the road to see if there was a place to pull into. Then he heard a bump, got right out of his car and found Mrs. Little on the road,” Easson testified.
The officer said she asked Kelly if he’d been talking on his cellphone.
Kelly replied that he’d just finished a call on his handsfree headset and was not on the phone when he felt the impact.
Firestone asked Easson if she was aware that after the collision, the configuration of the crosswalk was changed to improve visibility.
As early as May 30, 2011, steps were taken to make it less confusing, said Firestone. These included changes to the centre median and shrubbery.
Easson said visibility was “not great.”
The officer also told the court she found a brown envelope in the crosswalk. Inside was a death certificate for Little’s husband, Don, who had died April 3 after a long illness.
The trial has been adjourned. Four more witnesses are expected to testify when it resumes.
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