RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A woman is in the hospital after she was hit by a car on VCU’s campus on Thursday evening. This happened just one week after another pedestrian crash on campus resulted in a student’s death.
On Thursday, Feb. 2 at 9 p.m., VCU Police responded to the intersection of West Grace and North Harrison streets for a report of a pedestrian who had been hit by a commercial vehicle. When police arrived, they found an unidentified woman in the street.
Moe Nasheer works at a corner store near the intersection where the accident happened. He told 8News he heard the accident and left the store to investigate.
“I heard like a hit and then I started hearing somebody yelling and then the brake of the truck,” Nasheer said. “That was terrible, it was terrible. She was like yelling and then I helped her out. I said ‘Do not move, you may have broken something in your body.’”
The pedestrian was taken to a local hospital for treatment, but police were unable to give 8News an update on the status of her injuries at this time.
According to police, the driver was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Pedestrians running into trouble with cars is all too common on campus. Gabe “Lotus” Oliver had his own dangerous run in with a Richmond driver last summer.
“I’ve actually been hit by a car before, but that’s skating and it’s hard sometimes because a lot of people definitely speed or go by the red light,” Oliver said.
Thursday’s crash comes just a week after a tragic accident involving a pedestrian on campus. On Jan. 27, VCU student Mahrokh Khan was crossing the street at Laurel and West Main Streets when she was hit by a car. She later died from her injuries.
“I feel bad because she was a student, and she was far from family and I feel bad for her family hearing the news that she got hit,” Nasheer said.
Khan’s death sparked renewed conversations about pedestrian safety on campus, with many students saying more needed to be done.
VCU has since offered safety advice for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians around campus. For drivers, this means not using cell phones and headphones while driving and also yielding to pedestrians at crosswalks.
