Until late last month, Sue Stead of London, Ont., was an active senior who walked twice a day, lived alone in a three-floor condo and enjoyed gardening.
That all changed when a driver hit the 78-year-old last month while she was out for a morning walk. Today, Stead is in a cast, recovering from major knee surgery and mostly confined to a wheelchair.
She’s now urging drivers to slow down and pay attention, while her family is calling for harsher penalties for drivers who hit pedestrians.
Nothing is as important as the life you save if you just slow down.– Sue Stead’s daughter, Lisa
“I’m mad,” said Stead from her wheelchair in her Adelaide Street North home this week. “There are so many people getting hit in this city. It’s terrible.
“It’s wrecked my life because I’m a very independent person.”
Life has changed significantly
Just after 8 a.m. ET on May 26, while crossing Adelaide Street North at Tennent Avenue at a green light, Stead was suddenly struck by a vehicle.
“I didn’t even see the car that hit me until I was lying on the ground,” she said.
It’s usually recommended to keep an injured person stationary until paramedics arrive, to reduce the risk of any further injury, unless that person is in immediate danger. Bystanders ended up pulling Stead off the road.
It’s such a busy intersection, she said.
Unless we have a signal from the provincial government that this kind of driving is not at all acceptable, nothing’s going to change.– David Shellnutt, personal injury lawyer in Toronto
For the next week, she recovered in hospital after undergoing knee surgery for a tibial plateau fracture.
“They’ve inserted a plate and many screws in which to hold it all together,” said Stead’s daughter, Lisa, 51.
“It definitely changed the trajectory of her life.”
Newly married, Lisa has moved in with her mom to help with her round-the-clock care.
“There will be lifelong repercussions for her as a result of this accident.”
London police Const. Sandasha Bough said the driver who hit Stead “was charged with, ‘Turn — not in safety.’ The total payable is $110.”
LISTEN | Sue Stead, 78, speaks about how getting hit by a car has changed her life:
After she was struck by a car while crossing an intersection, Sue Stead, 78, shared this message with London drivers.
Calls for stiffer penalties
Lisa said doctors have told her mom she will likely require a full knee replacement down the road and may also get arthritis in her knee.
“When you hit a person with your car, I think the driver’s licence should be suspended. You’ve hit a person and you could have taken a life. It deserves much more strict charges.”
CBC News asked London police for the number of times drivers have hit pedestrians in the city this year. The newsroom was advised to file a freedom of information request. After counting police media releases that mention pedestrians who were struck by vehicles and tallying up CBC’s own stories, we identified at least 10 pedestrians who were hit so far this year, including one on Monday evening. Two of those pedestrians were killed.
According to Parachute Canada, a national charity dedicated to injury prevention, 17 children were killed in pedestrian incidents in Canada in 2020, according to the latest figures available. The organization says there are about 1,000 child pedestrian injuries each year.
“We need a change,” said David Shellnutt, a personal injury lawyer based in Toronto. “Driving is a privilege, and if you injure someone while you’re doing it, you should lose that privilege for an extended period of time.”
While the driver in Stead’s case was charged with a simple traffic violation that did not include a driver’s licence suspension, other charges such as careless driving and dangerous driving can result in stiffer penalties, including jail time.
But far too often, drivers are getting off with little more than a slap on the wrist, said Shellnutt.
“We should be applying the stiffest penalties we have to motorists who negligently cause people harm,” he said. “If we don’t do that, it not only sends a signal not only to this driver, but to other drivers, that you can kill and maim people with very little impact to your own personal life.
“Unless we have a signal from the provincial government that this kind of driving is not at all acceptable, nothing’s going to change.”
It’s why he supports proposed legislation introduced by the NDP that’s called the Moving Ontarians Safely Act, which includes community service, licence suspension and driver re-education, and that drivers attend court to hear victim impact statements as part of their penalties.
The legislation passed first reading last November.
Sue is hopeful sharing her story will remind people to slow down.
“I know it’s frustrating because of all the construction going on,” she said. “Even if there wasn’t construction, everyone needs to slow down. Watch where you’re going and watch the lights.”
Her daughter added: “She could have been killed and it would be a terrible story. She’s here and she’s here to tell the story. Thank God for that.
“It really can happen to you, and if you tuck that in the back of your mind when you’re making those moves around the city, nothing is as important as the life you save if you just slow down.”
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