Woman charged in elderly pedestrian's death

A 26-year-old woman has been charged in connection with a hit and run that killed a 91-year-old pedestrian last month.

The man, who was using a walker, was on the sidewalk in the 8500 block of 48th Avenue northwest when he was hit by a Dodge Ram pickup truck backing out of a driveway.

He became entangled in a hitch on the truck and was dragged for about 125 metres, police said.

The driver left the scene without stopping, unaware of what had happened.

She is now charged with unsafe backing. If found guilty, the penalty can include a fine of more than$2,000,six months in jail and a three-month driving suspension.

She will be in court again on April 28.

Pedestrian safety

Police saypedestrian collisions have been on the rise since 2011.

There havebeen threedeaths sofar in2014, and the city saw nine pedestrian deaths last year.

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Road safety expert Alex de Barrossaysthe risk of death for a pedestrian in a collision rises exponentially when the speed of the vehicle is above 30 kilometres per hour.

"And we still have pedestrian crossingsat places where the speed limit is 60 or even higher, so this is a problem and this is something we actually have to deal with it,"said deBarros.

• Listen to his full interview on the Calgary Eyeopener below:

He said solutions can be costly and complicated. He saidcrossings cannot be removed, because pedestrians would cross illegally, but slowing down the traffic could also cause problems.

"There is no simple solution,"said de Barros. "What we need is a system approach."

But he believes that many cities in North America are moving towards more pedestrian-friendly intersections.