By GLENN KAHL
The Bulletin
A man walking a toddler in a stroller toward Woodward Park in a marked crosswalk at Queensland Avenue was killed by an eastbound van on Woodward Avenue shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday when the driver was apparently blinded by the setting sun.
The child — who appeared to be about 2 years old — was seriously injured
The horrific incident was a replay of a fatal accident about a year ago on East Center Street. An older man pushing a shopping cart was crossing from the south side of Center Street to the north to reach an alley. He was struck and killed by a westbound motorist who did not see him in the glare of the setting sun.
Neighbors in the area of Wednesday’s fatality noted that the warning amber lights strips on both sides of the crosswalk were activated but they said when the sun is setting they cannot be seen by the oncoming traffic.
“Why don’t they install them above on a pole?” one bystander asked.
The stroller was stuck in the grill area of the van that stopped some 30 feet beyond the point of impact. Fire and ambulance medics performed CPR on the man on the north side of the street where he had fallen. The medics continued as a CPR team, trading off with each other, for more than 30 minutes to no avail.
The child meanwhile was on the sidewalk where medics worked with him for the same amount of time until a REACH air ambulance landed in the center of Woodward Park. A Manteca Ambulance unit pulled onto the grass and parked to the south of the helicopter where flight medics joined the team in the back of the ambulance trying to stabilize the toddler.
It took little more than 15 minutes before they were airborne and enroute to a trauma center at U.C. David Medical Center in Sacramento.
Family members of the stricken man gathered on the curbing. California law prohibits an ambulance from transporting a fatality and they were forced to wait for the coroner to arrive on the scene from Stockton.
Manteca Police called out their Major Accident Investigation Team to study the scene and the cause of the fatality.
There was no word on the condition of the child at press time Wednesday night.
To contact Glenn Kahl email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3539.
