A 76-year-old man has died after he was struck by a driver in Toronto’s west end Monday evening, hours after a separate crash in Scarborough left a 38-year-old woman with life-threatening injuries.

Police said the man was crossing Dundas Street West near Scarlett Road around 8:30 p.m. when he was hit by a 42-year-old man driving east on Dundas towards the intersection.

The pedestrian was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. He was later pronounced dead in hospital.

The 76-year-old man had not been crossing at a crosswalk or controlled intersection when he was hit, police said.

The driver remained at the scene, police said.

In a separate incident in Scarborough, also Monday evening, police said a 38-year-old woman was crossing Morningside Avenue at the eastbound off-ramp of Highway 401 around 6:15 p.m. when she was hit by a 54-year-old man driving south on Morningside.

She was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.

The intersection at Dundas West and Scarlet Road is a complicated one for pedestrians. There are traffic lights, but zebra crossings are painted only on the eastside of Dundas for pedestrians walking north or south on Scarlet. A westbound TTC bus stop is located on an island in the middle of Dundas westbound lanes and the right-turn lane.

While there are crossing marks, pedestrians trying to cross Scarlet on the north side of Dundas have to watch for car drivers turning left toward Scarlet, or those turning west into Dundas.

Visibility can be impeded as those drivers turning right into Dundas West are coming from underneath the bridge holding the train tracks. The nearest intersection with crossing signs on both sides is at Humberhill Avenue, approximately 200 metres away.

It’s believed the driver hit the pedestrian somewhere between these two intersections.

A woman who works at a dry cleaning facility across from where the accident took place said she wasn’t there when it happened but spoke to police Tuesday morning as they canvassed for security video evidence. She said it’s common to see people jaywalking instead of crossing at both nearby intersections.

There’s a Toronto Community Housing building next to the Dundas-Scarlet intersection on the southern side of Dundas, where most pedestrian traffic in the area originates.

Victoria Etudaiye was clutching two shopping bags as she followed the crossing signs and waited for her traffic signals before heading home Tuesday morning. She hadn’t heard about the 76-year-old pedestrian death nearby, but it didn’t surprise her.

“It can definitely feel dangerous around this intersection,” she said.

“This is a very busy area and there are so many cars and not enough space on the sidewalks.”

Etudiaye has lived in the building for the last four years. She said the narrow space on the sidewalks can seem even narrower during the winter months when snow piles up and is not cleared out quickly.

“You just try to be vigilant all the time, and follow the traffic signs. It’s very important,” she said.

Willina Mishka, who works as a nanny in the area and is usually pushing strollers through the neighbourhood, said she was not aware of the Monday incident but added near-misses are very common.

Last fall she was nearly knocked over by a distracted driver, while she attempted to cross an intersection on Jane Street.

“There was a crossing guard with me waving a sign. I literally did everything right but still it didn’t matter,” she said, noting it’s not nearly enough for pedestrians to be obeying the rules if drivers don’t pay attention.

“Everybody drives too fast and makes it scary,” she said.

The 76-year-old victim is the third pedestrian killed on Toronto streets this year.

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A 26-year-old woman was struck and killed by the driver of a tractor-trailer in North York on Jan. 21.

A 65-year-old man died on Jan. 4 after being struck by the driver of a vehicle near Jarvis Street and Gerrard Street East in a hit-and-run.

Forty-two pedestrians were killed in the city in 2019.