Elderly woman still critical after mobility scooter crash

Police at the scene where an 88-year-old woman on a mobility scooter collided with a truck.

An elderly woman hit by a large truck in Katikati while riding a mobility scooter yesterday remains in a 'critical condition this morning.

The truck driver said the 88-year-old accelerated unexpectedly, hitting the side of his truck before being flung underneath it.

A Tauranga Hospital spokesman said the woman remained in a critical condition this morning.

She was stationary and all of a sudden she accelerated out into the side of the truck.

Truck driver

The visibly shaken truck driver told the Bay of Plenty Times he had been in the middle of Katikati, heading south to Tauranga, when he passed the woman on the pedestrian median about 12.45pm.

"She was stationary on the pedestrian [refuge] in the middle of the road.

"If she wasn't, I would have stopped, you know.

"She was sitting in the middle of the road.

"She was stationary and all of a sudden she accelerated out into the side of the truck."

The driver said he was travelling about 30km/h at the time of the crash.

He said he had been driving large trucks for 10 years and had never had an accident before,

Katikati resident Melinda Waugh said she had just pulled out of a parking space and was following behind the truck when it slammed on its brakes.

"I saw bits of the mobility scooter flying on the road, then I saw the scooter and realised it was empty. By this time, the truck driver was out of the truck and I was out of my car. He looked very upset and then I saw the lady under the truck."

Mrs Waugh said she had not seen the elderly victim in the pedestrian refuge before the collision. The woman was conscious when she reached her.

Firefighters tend to an elderly woman after she was struck by this truck at Katikati. Photo/Chris Steel

Mrs Waugh said the woman was showing signs of movement but people were urging her to keep still.

It appeared the woman had suffered head and leg injuries - "it looked pretty bad", she said.

Katikati police Sergeant Steve Hindmarsh said the woman had collided with the side of the truck, just behind the cab, and had rolled underneath the truck after the impact.

Mr Hindmarsh said speed nor alcohol had been factors.

Western Bay of Plenty road policing manager Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said police were still investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.

Gary Darkes of Tauranga firm Home, Health and Mobility, who co-ordinates the city's mobility clubs, said there was a lot of tuition and contact with people who bought scooters from dealers.

"But people can buy them off Trade Me and family can buy them for them too."

The tuition provided included up to six follow-up calls to check how clients were going with their scooters.

"We also service scooters every six months, so we keep in contact with our clients and run safety workshops with council and Age Concern.

"Teaching people to make sure they understand what is going on, for example, coming up to Christmas time, we are informing people that it is getting busier and where it is safe to cross the roads or not.

"The safest place to cross may not be the most direct route to where you are going but making sure you cross at the safest place possible," Mr Darkes said.