Woman struck by car in Cambridge shares what happened

A woman who was hit by a vehicle in Cambridge, Ont. is speaking out about the scary experience.

Vanessa Pacheco was struck Thursday while she was crossing the intersection of Langs Drive and Concession Road just after 2:30 p.m.

"I was looking both ways. I waited for the [crossing lights] to say, like, ‘Yeah, I can go,’” she told CTV News on Friday. “As I was going, all of a sudden I had the flash of a front car and, it's like I opened my eyes and I was already on the ground.”

Screenshot from a security camera showing Vanessa Pacheco right after she was struck by a vehicle at Langs Dr. and Concession Rd. in Cambridge on Nov. 15, 2024. (Source: John Rees)

Pacheco was on her way to pick up her children from school and they were her first concern.

"Right away I was like, I need someone to call my kid's grandfather [to] get them from school, since now I can't,” she said. “Then, I don't care what happens after that. I just want to make sure my kids are taken care of.”

Pacheco said several witnesses stopped and helped her across the street.

Screenshot from security camera showing witnesses aiding Vanessa Pacheco after she was hit by a vehicle at Langs Dr. and Concession Rd. in Cambridge. (Courtesy: John Rees)

“I had no idea what happened. I had no idea where this lady came from. It just came out of nowhere.”

Then she saw video footage of the collision.

“Once I saw the video, it all made sense as to what happened,” Pacheco explained. “But it was so traumatizing watching myself go flying off the car, legs were in the air and just seeing my whole body slam to the ground.”

According to the Waterloo Regional Police Service, the driver remained at the scene and has since been charged with making an unsafe turn.

Pacheco, meanwhile, was sent to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. She said she laid on a stretcher for seven hours before receiving a CT scan and X-ray and was told she had no broken bones or fractures, but suffered internal bruising.

"My leg is so sore that I couldn't even sleep,” she explained the next day. “I've been struggling to do anything at all and just been laying down bored because I'm in so much pain, I can't really do anything or go anywhere.”

John Rees, who lives near the intersection, said it was his security camera that recorded video of the incident. Despite the 30 km/h speed limit, he sees all kinds of issues in the area.

“We've seen people turning, running red lights. A friend of mine got T-boned here from a lady running a red light as well,” he said, adding speeding and cellphone use have also been problems.

For that reason, Rees explained, he’s leaving the neighbourhood.

"I'm moving my family to a trailer park where we're not going to have this kind of traffic," he said.

The intersection is on the border between Ward 1 and Ward 3. Both councillors for the area said road safety is one of the biggest concerns they hear from residents.

"What happened at Langs and Concession is scary to me because it could be a foretaste of more to come," explained Helen Shwery, Ward 1 councillor for the City of Cambridge.

She said the city will be conducting a review next year that will look at improving traffic calming measures and pedestrian safety.

"Most of the residents I spoke to are huge proponents of speed bumps and, lately, I've also heard about better crosswalks," Shwery added.

As for Pacheco, she doesn't drive and needs to cross that road to get her kids from school.

She’s wants all drivers to slow down and pay attention.

"I could have been paralyzed. I could have been dead,” Pacheco said. “If [the driver] were to have killed me, what would have happened to my three boys? They're so little. They're eight and under. So they would have been left without their mom because someone decided to drive recklessly.”