Pedestrian Events

A taxi cab with three people inside revved its engine, went up and over a grassy hill, smashed through a few tress while airborne, then crashed spectacularly into a parked BMW.

Much of what we choose to do as we go about pursuing our daily lives, is built upon trust. Trust that is in the familiar. We trust that the elevator we walk into will deliver us to the floor we've punched in, without stalling between floors, and leaving us in deep trouble. We trust that the traffic lights we're obeying as pedestrians will also be obeyed by the motorists eager to gun it and get going in their busy days. We trust that the food we eat is free of bacterial contamination and won't make us ill.

And we trust that when we enter a taxi cab the driver is able to follow our instructions and deliver us safely to our destination. Sometimes incidents occur that inform us that in that particular instance our trust has been misplaced. Something extraordinary occurs, something quite out of the ordinary, something that no one could conceivably predict. On the other hand, perhaps it is predictable. In the sense that someone with a medical condition should not be driving a cab?

In Ottawa yesterday what is being termed by the paramedics who responded to the emergency 911 call as a "unique accident", might have taken the lives of two innocent people - three if one includes the taxi driver, but, thanks to marvellous good luck, did not. Two individuals hailed a cab. No sooner did the driver begin the journey with his fares than he experienced a seizure.

That seizure caused him to press his foot on the gas pedal, and the vehicle accelerated without a vestige of control. It went on a peculiar trajectory, actually leaving flat ground, becoming momentarily slightly airborne, crashing through a stand of trees to land upon a BMW parked in a driveway. The impact had flipped the BMW onto its roof and the taxi happened to land right-side up, on top of the overturned BMW.

"I've been doing this for 21 years now, and this was one call where I just had to do a double take", paramedic superintendent Paul Morneau said. "This is definitely one of those calls that is extremely interesting." Somewhat like that old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times", but without the grim consequences.

But landing the cab on top of the BMW didn't quite end the adventure. The driver, still in the throes of his seizure, kept his foot clamped down hard on the gas pedal as a result of which the tires spun continually, and became more and more sizzling hot, sending plumes of smoke out over the area. It was that smoke that alerted people, thinking there was a fire, sending off additional 911 calls.

Adding insult to injury to the owner of the BMW, he rushed out of the house he happened to be visiting in, and as he approached the scene, the left front tire of the taxi exploded, sending bits of tire, plastic and metal flying into his face. He suffered superficial injuries, remarkable in itself. And the injuries suffered by the other three were also slight; the driver and the passengers came out of the ordeal quite well.

The taxi driver was the only one taken to hospital. Presumably for stabilization of his medical condition for which he had a prescription. Some drive that was. Makes you think perhaps a little more carefully - for all of 60 seconds - about entrusting your life to ordinary, everyday, pedestrian events.

Sometimes, in fact, you're safer on foot.