One man was taken to hospital with minor injuries after he was struck by a truck as he crossed a South Surrey road in a motorized scooter Tuesday afternoon.
Impact of the collision knocked the man off of the scooter, which ended up wedged under the truck's front bumper.
The 50-year-old victim was in a marked crosswalk at the corner of 18 Avenue and Southmere Crescent when he was hit by the silver Dodge Dakota around 2 p.m. His scooter was adorned front and back with reflective safety vests.
"I don't know why the driver didn't see him," said Heidi Nelson, who called 911 after witnessing the collision from her third-floor apartment.
The truck driver, a 66-year-old Langley resident, was turning left off of Southmere onto 18th when the crash occurred, Nelson said.
"He just goes straight, straight…"
White Rock resident Christine Gingras said she was driving west on 18 Avenue when she spotted the victim in the crosswalk and slowed her pace. She, too, was surprised the truck driver didn't stop for the scooter rider.
"I don't know how anyone could've missed him," a shaken Gingras said.
"I just saw him keep on going till he knocked the man on the chair over."
Gingras said the victim – who was attended to by other motorists until emergency crews arrived – was conscious at the scene, but not talking. His eyes were open and his head was bleeding, she said.
Police closed 18 Avenue to westbound traffic from 152 Street, and in both directions west of Southmere Crescent to investigate.
The Langley man told police he didn't see the scooter. He was ticketed for failing to yield to a pedestrian and for driving without consideration. Fines for the tickets total $363.