Kelowna – Two young men are nursing injuries suffered when they ran in front of a truck at the Intersection of Bernard and Richter just after 5 p.m. today.

According to horrified witnesses, three males had crossed Bernard northbound on foot when two of them turned around and bolted back across the intersection. A red Dodge pickup was travelling eastbound on Bernard, on the green light, and the driver didn’t see the males until it was too late to avoid them.

“The 10 metre skid marks clearly prove to me that the driver tried desperately to stop but he was too close and the wet pavement didn’t help” said Cst. Steve Holmes of the Kelowna RCMP Municipal Traffic Unit. “The outcome could have been a lot worse if the driver hadn’t tried to brake. He was extremely shaken up by the incident”.

There was no evidence of speeding on the part of the pickup.

The males, age 17 and 18, are local residents. One suffered serious but non life threatening injuries, the other had relatively minor injuries. No charges are being considered for the pickup driver or the pedestrians.

Police remind pedestrians and motorists to be mindful of each other, especially now that vehicular and pedestrian traffic has significantly increased in the lead up to Christmas.  Both need to obey the direction of traffic control devices as failure to do so can have tragic consequences.