The mundane act of paying a parking fee turned deadly Christmas Day when a woman's van surged forward just as she reached out to scan her ticket.
The 37-year-old mother became pinned between the van's door and frame and suffered critical brain injuries. She had been visiting a relative at the South Lake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket Saturday morning.
Police are investigating whether her foot slipped off the car's brake as she leaned out.
"It's an absolute freak accident," said Sergeant Don Dalgleish of York Regional Police.
Someone saw the woman shortly afterward and called for help. She died in hospital.
A 36-year-old man died in a similar accident in November when he was pinned between his car door and the brick wall of his apartment building on Jameson Avenue while trying to open an underground garage door.
With a report from The Canadian Press