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This article was published 31/12/2014 (2091 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Scott Sugimoto has been hit by a car twice.

The first time was two years ago. It was summer, in daylight, and he was running on the sidewalk near his Whyte Ridge home.

He was doing an intense workout and running hard. As he ran through a crosswalk, a car drove through the stop sign. He jumped at the last minute and bounced hard off the hood.

"The next thing I knew, I was on the boulevard. I looked up and the driver's eyes were as big as saucers, with her mouth wide open. I'm sure she thought she had killed me," Sugimoto said.

'The next thing I knew, I was on the boulevard. I looked up and the driver's eyes were as big as saucers, with her mouth wide open. I'm sure she thought she had killed me' ‐ runner Scott Sugimoto

He got up and turned to speak to the driver, but "she just drove off with me shouting at her," Sugimoto said.

The second time happened during winter. A van rolled through a stop sign in front of him as he was running. He skidded into it just behind the passenger door, and the women inside laughed and drove away, he said.

Sugimoto decided to speak up about his experiences because of what he says are dangerously inattentive drivers.

Ten pedestrians have been hit in Manitoba this month, and two have died. Winnipeg police have blamed the high number of crashes on unseasonal weather, but there's more to it than that, Sugimoto said.

Vic Keller agrees with him. The personal trainer runs Vic Fitness and works year-round with runners and other athletes. He has stopped bothering to count the number of close calls he's seen or heard about.

It's especially bad in the winter when it's dark and visibility is low, Keller said.

After too many close calls, both men run with high-visibility vests, headlamps and blinking red rear lights. But even that often isn't enough.

"When you're approaching an intersection, you notice drivers never bother to look to their right. They're only worried about other vehicles coming from the left," Sugimoto said.

That means most drivers don't see the runners who have the right of way and are about to cross their path.

"You get that look of absolute shock on their faces, like 'Oh my god, you're here.' Well, yeah. I've been here for a while and you just weren't paying attention," Sugimoto said.

When he's on group runs, Keller said he encourages his clients to wear reflective clothing, run facing traffic and be extra careful around crossings. They always try to put someone with a headlamp out front to make sure drivers see them.

"It's particularly bad along Wellington Crescent," Keller said. "People are driving way too fast and even passing in the parking lane. It's crazy."

Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Rob Carver said winter weather often makes it tougher for drivers to see other people on the roadway. He encouraged pedestrians to wear lots of reflective clothing, never use headphones and always walk or run facing traffic.

Keller wants to see drivers take some responsibility, too.

"If people like Scott (Sugimoto) are having close calls, it's perhaps a wake-up call to drivers to pay attention and get off their devices and phones and pay attention," he said.

jesse.winter@freepress.mb.ca