A Mississauga man has been arrested in a hit-and-run that left a 75-year-old man dead on Monday.

Dominik Banka, 28, is in police custody.

Police declined to say exactly what led them to him, but implied that a tip from the public may have played a part. Officers said that the media carrying the story yesterday helped them.

The dead man, Charlie Woods, was the first of two pedestrians to be killed in 24 hours in the GTA.

Around 12 p.m., a 76-year-old woman, was crossing Rutherford Rd. in Vaughan from the south to north when she was struck by a white GMC Safari van that was exiting the highway.

The woman was taken to hospital, but died of her injuries.

The driver of the van was uninjured and remained at the scene of the accident.

The victim is the ninth pedestrian killed in eight days in the GTA.

Monday, a Mississauga man was killed in a hit-and-run accident.

Peel Regional Police said Charlie Woods, 75, was crossing Lakeshore Rd. W. near Briarwood Ave. at around 10 p.m. when he was struck by a smaller, dark red SUV.

Witnesses said the vehicle went through a stop sign as it turned westbound onto Lakeshore from Brant Ave. Police said it appeared to accelerate before striking the man, and didn’t stop after the collision.

The driver is described as a white male in his 20s or 30s. Witnesses recorded part of the licence plate as “AFB” and said the SUV may also have a roof rack. Police said the front of the vehicle was substantially damaged.

Police said it’s not clear if the victim, who lived in the area, was in the crosswalk when he was hit.

“He was the most wonderful, beautiful man,” said Barbara Gale, a clerk at a nearby bargain store.

Residents said Woods and his dog Lucy were regular fixtures in the neighbourhood.

“You couldn’t ask for a nicer man,” Gale said.

The death marked a particularly deadly week for walkers in the GTA.

The elderly man was the eighth pedestrian killed across the region in the last seven days, beginning last Tuesday, when a teenager in Vaughan, a young mother in Etobicoke and a senior citizen in the city’s west end, were all run down on the same day.

Later in the week, a 24-year-old woman was killed by a Brampton transit bus, a man taking a shortcut was hit by a GO train, and a father walking with his wife and 4-year-old son was run over by a tow truck. During Monday morning’s rush hour, a 60-year-old woman was killed by a TTC bus.

Four of the fatal accidents involved large vehicles making a turn; one was the result of a driver running a red light; another is being blamed on a confusing intersection.

Brian Patterson, president of the Ontario Safety League, said pedestrian deaths are often preventable.

“It only takes a few seconds of distraction on the part of either the pedestrian or the driver to lead to the problem,” he said.

Patterson and other experts pointed to a combination of factors for the rash of recklessness – from less daylight, to impaired visibility from salt-covered windshields, to mild weather spurring faster driving, to a growing inattentiveness among drivers and pedestrians alike.

What is clear, though, is that pedestrians are making up a much larger percentage of the total number of people killed in traffic.

Last year, 31 pedestrians were killed in the city, comprising almost two-thirds of all road deaths, and the highest total of the last five years. Pedestrians were killed at five times the rate of drivers and more than three times the rate of passengers.

“Our (overall) fatality numbers are good,” said Toronto police Const. Hugh Smith, noting a general downward trend over the last five years. “But we are noticing a spike in our pedestrian fatalities.”

Since 2005, annual road deaths in the city have decreased by almost 20 per cent, from 59 to 48, while the number of pedestrians killed has increased, from 29 to 31.

“To me, that’s way out of proportion,” Smith said.

Across the GTA, pedestrians accounted for 42 per cent of all traffic deaths last year, and there has been a general upward trend over the last five years.

In general, pedestrian deaths increase with the size of a city, typically making up around 50 per cent of all traffic deaths in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, compared to a national average of only 13 per cent, according to the Canada Safety Council.

Smith said the situation is getting worse in Toronto because as the city crowds, people aren’t using their senses to protect themselves – blocking sound with earphones and limiting their vision with hoods and hats – and drivers are more distracted than ever.

“Everybody’s moving quickly, pedestrians are moving blindly and nobody’s communicating.”

Dylan Reid, co-chair of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee and associate editor of Spacing magazine, said the accidents shouldn’t be blamed entirely on drivers or pedestrians.

“If you build a road like a speedway, then cars are going to speed along them,” he said.

Reid said the city could use more public education campaigns.

“Toronto is becoming a city where more and more people are walking, taking public transit and cycling, so I think we really need to remind everybody that Toronto’s changing, it’s becoming more crowded and you really do need to be looking out for each other.”

With files from Madeleine White

PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES

Jan. 12: Steven Seixeiro, 17, of Vaughan, was killed on his way to St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School, by a truck turning right at Rutherford Rd. and Keele St.

Jan. 12: Nouhad-Nicholas Al-Kassouf, 80, of Toronto, died after being struck by a car around 1 p.m. as she crossed a Y intersection at Roncesvalles Ave. and Dundas St. W. Police said the driver had the right of way.

Jan. 12: Marites Mendoza, 28, was pushing a stroller with her 7-week-old son across Martin Grove Rd. at Eglinton Ave. around 12.45 p.m. when she was struck by a car that allegedly ran a red light. Police said a charge was pending against the 83-year-old driver. The baby was not seriously injured.

Jan. 14: Gurleen Thabal, 24, of Brampton, was killed by a Brampton Transit bus as it turned from Steeles Ave. W. into the Shoppers World bus loop around 6:30 a.m.

Jan. 15: A 42-year-old Milton man taking a shortcut along the Lakeshore railway line was killed by a passenger train at 1:30 a.m. just west of the Oakville GO station.

Jan. 18. A 60-year-old woman was killed when she was hit by a TTC bus about 7 a.m. The bus was southbound on Mount Pleasant Rd. and turning right on Eglinton Ave.

Jan. 18: Charlie Woods, 75, was crossing Lakeshore Rd. W. near Briarwood Ave. at around 10 p.m. when he was struck by an SUV. Witnesses said the vehicle went through a stop sign and police say it appeared to accelerate before striking the man, and didn’t stop after the collision.

Jan. 19: 76-year-old woman, was killed while crossing Rutherford Rd. from the south to north when she was struck by a white GMC Safari van that was exiting the highway.

Pedestrian fatalities in Toronto as a percentage of total traffic fatalities

2009

31 of 48 = 65%

2008

27 of 54 = 50%

2007

23 of 52 = 44%

2006

30 of 57 = 53%

2005

29 of 59 = 49%