Woman seriously injured after vehicle collides with Surrey bus shelter

CCTV footage taken near Guildford Mall in Surrey shows the moment a vehicle collided with a bus shelter on Dec. 23.

35-year-old Rosedeep Kaur Minhas was in the bus shelter when it happened.

Minhas was taken to Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, where she spent her first Canadian Christmas recovering from her injuries.

“My brother saw me on the stretcher and said I was shaking, and he said my face was covered in blood, and he thought, ‘You’re dead,’” she told The Leader Spirit.

Minhas, who was a dentist back in India, only arrived in Canada three months ago. She says the incident has left her unable to walk or go to the bathroom independently.

She has learned it will be months before she fully recovers — a huge setback for the newcomer.

“My skull is fractured and my wrist is fractured and my left knee,” she said. “I had grafting on my right leg and my right foot is under investigation.”

As Minhas recovers from her injuries, the Surrey Police Service (SPS) has confirmed to The Leader Spirit that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

They say it appears two cars entered the intersection and collided. All parties involved are cooperating with police.

The SPS says it appears to be a Motor Vehicle Act-related investigation.

Road safety advocate Lucy Maloney with Vision Zero Vancouver says all levels of government need to build better infrastructure to keep pedestrians safe.

“We don’t want to focus on individual drivers’ responsibility; we want to focus on the system issues that prevent deaths and injuries,” she said.

“We need to remove the right to turn right on a red light and reduce speed limits to make sure drivers are moving more slowly. We know that reducing speed from 50 to 30 can reduce the chance of pedestrian death and injury from 80 to less than 10 per cent.”

Maloney says this will reduce insurance and healthcare costs.

“It is a real shame that ICBC legislation has been altered in recent years to reduce the ability of people on foot and on bikes to seek compensation in the incident of a crash,” she said.

“That’s not fair”

As for Minhas, she says the incident has left her shaken but happy to be alive.

“To everyone: be safe and pray to God every day,” she said.

“You never know when those prayers will actually help you. “