Homeless in Vancouver: Driven to distraction?

First off, this accident happened two weeks ago—April 4—at the intersection of 15th Avenue and South Granville Street. It’s taken me that long to get the photos which were taken by a friend (thank you).

At first glance, this photo made me think of how many times as a cyclist I’ve taken my eyes off the traffic around me to gawk at the advertising in the window of La Vie en Rose—I don’t know why, I don’t even wear a bra.

The point of impact on the sedan was on the passenger side. I’m told the collision occurred during the morning rush on South Granville; that the sedan somehow interacted with a truck and, like a billiard ball, came to a rest on the sidewalk a few inches shy of kissing the building.

So it’s not as though La Vie en Rose’s eye-catching advertising offered any kind of distraction in this case.

It’s always funny until someone gets hurt

After I got over my initial juvenile titillation, the photo made me think about how often collisions at intersection might result in one of the cars ending up on the sidewalk.

Hopefully not very often.

This accident, I understand, did not result in any serious injuries, pedestrian or otherwise, which is a wonder given the normal bustle of shoppers on all four corners of this intersection.