Sad memorial after death near CityPlace buildings

We were saddened to read about Soraya Nanji, a resident at condos near our neighbourhood. She was crossing Front Street earlier this week, reportedly talking on her cellphone, when she was struck and killed by a truck. Here's full coverage at the Star, Post, CBC, CTV.

On Friday night, we saw that a memorial of pictures and flowers were set up at the northwest corner of Front and Blue Jays Way.

From this CBC story, concerns that she was distracted while speaking on her phone.

"There's no way to say definitively yes or no, but it certainly didn't help that she was talking on the phone while trying to cross a relatively busy street," said police Sgt. Steve Burrows.

Burrows said there are pedestrian collisions involving some sort of distraction every couple of months in Toronto, "whether it's the use of an iPod … [or] the use of a cellphone — texting or talking.

"These are things we have been warning pedestrians about. You certainly cut off some of your sensory abilities when you're doing something like that," Burrows said.

It can't be denied that in condo land, there are lots of people on foot. And lots of downtown traffic. And yes, many of us are on cellphones, iPods or peering down at our BlackBerrys. All of this is to say that we should listen to what our parents taught us. Look before you cross, and perhaps use your ears as well. Sad story we don't want to read about again.