Three traffic accidents occurred on campus Friday, one involving a pedestrian transported to the hospital for minor injuries.
Around 1 p.m. Friday, a pedestrian was hit by a bicyclist on the south side of campus off Neil Avenue, close to Campbell Hall.
A Columbus State student, who declined to give out his name on the scene, acknowledged he was the one who hit the pedestrian.
“I feel bad, I don’t ever want to hit someone,” he said. “I’ve been hit by cars before so I know how it is.
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The student said the pedestrian was distracted.
“She was on her cellphone and she just stepped out,” he said. “She was on the crosswalk.”
OSU Police Deputy Chief Richard Morman said the bicyclist was cited in the incident with a traffic crash report.
“The bicyclist was going southbound on Neil Avenue. Vehicles were stopped because people were crossing the sidewalk. The bicyclist kept going, and did not yield to the pedestrians. The bicycle has to yield to the pedestrians whether it is slowing down or stopping for pedestrians walking on the crosswalk,” Morman said.
The OSU student was taken off the scene by ambulance. Morman said the injuries sustained were minor.
OSU Police Capt. Dave Rose said an additional accident occurred around 3 p.m. on Friday when an OSU student who was riding his bike was struck by a car on 18th Avenue and College Road, in front of Stillman Hall.
Additionally, a pedestrian walked into a bus on Woodruff Avenue Friday morning. A university spokeswoman called the incident a “minor accident” and said there were no serious injuries.
Morman said that for such a large campus like OSU’s, having three traffic accidents in the same day is not abnormal.
“That’s probably not unusual, I mean three accidents in one day if you think about how large campus is … I mean you’re looking at 6 ½-square miles,” Morman said. “And average daily population of campus is something like 95,000 to 100,000, so it’s like a city. So three accidents in a one-day period would not be unusual.”
These accidents occurred on the day when OSU handed out traffic safety tips to students, bicyclists and drivers about how to be safe on campus.
For some students like Cassie Tjotjos, a second-year in psychology, the traffic accidents serve as a reminder for everyone — pedestrians, bikers and drivers — to be more careful on and around campus.
“Is it the bikers and pedestrians not noticing the cars, trucks and bikes? Or is it the drivers not noticing the bikers and pedestrians? Regardless, as a university and as students here we need to be more careful,” Tjotjos said. “Just because we are on a college campus doesn’t mean we forget the rules we were taught when we were kids. Look both ways before crossing the street.”
Teddy Ellison and Nicole Albanese contributed to this story.
