Wairarapa Road Safety Council manager Bruce Pauling at the crash spot. PHOTO/ALEYNA MARTINEZ
ALEYNA MARTINEZ
[email protected]
A 91-year-old woman was knocked off her mobility scooter on Tuesday just before midday in Carterton and taken to Wairarapa Hospital with moderate injuries.
She had been crossing the road between Garrison and Pembroke Sts on the way to the supermarket when a recycling truck turned into Garrison St and conducted a u-turn.
Wairarapa Police Response Manager Jen Hansen said the driver had failed to see her and “as a result collided with her”.
When police attended the scene, it is understood the mobility scooter was wedged under the truck “so will be beyond repair”, Hansen said.
“The last we had heard is she was awaiting the result of some x-rays”.
“She may have possibly a rib injury and possibly some broken bones – but nothing confirmed as yet.”
At this stage, the crash is still under investigation as police wait for the woman to recover.
“We need to speak with that lady in more detail to understand exactly what occurred” Hansen said.
The driver was shaken up from what happened but was uninjured.
Wairarapa Road Safety Council manager Bruce Pauling said the crash happened on a “feeder road into the state highway”.
“You’d think with a day like today that she could be seen”.
Just over a week ago, a man was hit in Carterton in the early hours of the morning and is in an induced coma in Wellington Hospital.
Pauling said, “without apportioning any blame – because we don’t know what the situations are in these particular incidents – at the end of the day when a car takes on a pedestrian, there’s only going to be one winner.”
“Especially as winter approaches – we’ve got the shorter days and the gloomy, rainy, yucky days, it’s particularly important that all drivers around intersections scan the scene”.
Pauling said pedestrians could be distracted, or on the phone, but he stressed that it was up to drivers to look out for pedestrians.
