Pasquina Lapadula left the lobby of her North York apartment building just before dawn on Thursday.At 77, she was the type of senior who liked to stay active and took regular walks, police later said.But she didn’t make it very far — she was hit while trying to cross Islington Avenue just a few minutes later. The driver of the dark SUV just kept going, police said, and another swerved around her body in the road without stopping to help.And that’s where she died.It’s an all too familiar story on Toronto’s streets, where at least 24 pedestrians over the age of 60 have been killed so far this year, 37 total. Lapadula was the third pedestrian over the age of 60 to die in the city in three days.The spike in deaths comes as police and local politicians are under fire for handing out bright armbands to seniors at a Scarborough mall — an effort to help keep them visible and safe that critics have said missed the point on road safety.It’s clear seniors make up a disproportionate number of road victims in the city, and as the population ages that may only get worse. So what do seniors actually need to stay safe? There’s no silver bullet, advocates say, but many of the things they need, like road redesign and lower speed limits, would end up benefiting everyone, from age eight to 80.Adina Lebo, an ambassador for the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP), in her late 60s, has been fortunate enough not to be hit. But she’s had several “close calls,” including one last week at the corner of Bay Street and Charles Street West near her apartment.It happened after she stepped off the curb with the walk signal.A driver wanting to turn right at the red light was “looking left to see if there were any cars coming,” she remembers.“When I smacked the top of his car he kind of saw me. The hood was right beside me.”While she was lucky the driver wasn’t going ...
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