Ottawa Officials Call to Ban Big Rigs from Downtown

As the city of Ottawa debates how to go about ridding the downtown core of transport trucks, a recent truck accident in New Zealand speaks volumes about the risks associated with operating large trucks in close proximity to pedestrians.

It could have been fatal for a woman from Belmont, New Zealand, who was standing at an intersection in Lower Hutt when a large truck and trailer turned at the corner and snagged her backpack, dragging her under the wheels.

Ottawa Officials Call to Ban Big Rigs from Downtown

The 60-year-old woman sustained serious injuries to her left arm and required extensive surgery.

According to the Dominion Post of Wellington on 6/5/10, the woman was either standing or sitting near a barrier on the corner of Hebden Crescent and State Highway 2, with her back facing the road. As the passing truck turned, it either snagged her backpack or actually hit the woman, forcing her under the wheels of the big rig.

The driver told authorities that he had indeed noticed the woman at the street corner, but had no idea he had hit her.

It is such a truck accident that the municipal officials in the city of Ottawa fear. An editorial titled "Killer Trucks," appearing in the 6/5/10 edition of the Ottawa Citizen, makes a case for getting the big rigs out of the downtown core and argues for a new east-end bridge that would serve as a bypass for truck traffic.

"The weather is lovely, and the bicycles and pedestrians are once again crowding downtown," the Citizen says. "It is probable that this summer, as in years' past, someone will be killed or injured by a truck. These are sad accidents, but entirely predictable."

Ottawa Officials Call to Ban Big Rigs from Downtown

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