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Pittsburgh police are looking for a driver who hit a woman in her wheelchair at an Oakland neighborhood crosswalk, and then drove off. Cushion
Watch video provided by police of the hit-and-run in the player above.
Victim Kelda Gorman was in her motorized wheelchair, headed across the crosswalk on Centre Avenue at North Craig Street, with the traffic light in her favor. The car ran a red light, hitting Gorman hard, with the impact sending her and her wheelchair spinning.
"The car slowed down as if he was going to stop. I don't know exactly where I was in the crosswalk, I don't remember, but he struck me and pushed me into the middle of the intersection," Gorman told Pittsburgh's Action News 4. "There is no reason to rush like that. None."
It happened at 7:30 Monday morning, as she was headed for her morning coffee about a block from her home.
Video captured by a surveillance camera shows the driver paused briefly but drove off. Pittsburgh police are investigating and posted the video to social media, asking for the public's help in locating the driver.
Gorman's message to the driver: "Please admit your mistake. I mean, I know things happen. I just want to know why — why couldn't you stop at the light? What was going on?"
Paramedics examined her at the scene, but she declined transport to the hospital. She is feeling the effects of the collision.
"My nervous system being so heightened made my chronic pain condition so terrible that I can barely move," Gorman said. "In fact, it was really hard to even get out and do anything today because of how bad my pain is."
She said she also suffers from a spinal condition and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I've called my PCP and we're going to do re-imaging of my spine just to make sure that the spinal condition I have was not triggered by this," Gorman said.
The impact damaged her electric wheelchair, and she doesn't know yet if her insurance will cover the cost of repairing or replacing it. She's using a non-motorized wheelchair now.
She also has a message for all drivers.
"There's nothing worth hurrying that much. Think before you get in a vehicle. Think. That's all it takes. You have to be at least a teenager to get a learner's permit in this state. So that means you have the mental and intellectual capacity that yellow means slow down, not speed up and see how fast you can get through the light," Gorman said. "They even had the red light this time, and they went rushing through it like there was no tomorrow."
Pittsburgh police ask that anyone with information on the car or driver contact the Zone 4 investigator working the case at 412-422-6520.
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