Masood Amin, associate professor in engineering, had barely got off of the UVU shuttle Wednesday afternoon when he walked onto the scene of a auto-pedestrian accident at the crosswalk north of the Testing Center.
“I saw white car, a Honda, and a girl was laying there in the middle of the road on the asphalt,” Amin said of the scene. “It looked like she had severe head wounds, she was unconscious. The driver was disoriented. The other witnesses there had already called police.”
The Orem Department of Public Safety confirmed a call came in on Dec. 5 at 3:22 p.m. for a vehicle versus pedestrian accident near 800 South College Drive. The pedestrian was transported to a nearby hospital after sustaining injuries. Orem City Police obtained photos of the scene and a DI-9 accident report was taken.
The victim was taken by ambulance to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, said Chris Taylor, UVU spokesperson, who also confirmed the driver was a UVU employee.
“One of the worst things that can happen on campus is to have one of our students injured, especially seriously,” said Taylor.
A family member reported Friday morning the victim is stable and is talking. She sustained a crushed pelvic bone, a broken knee cap and a broken leg, according to the family member. Names of the victim and the driver have yet to be released.
According to Amin, who did not witness the actual accident, the victim was a Caucasian female student. Amin was on his way to the Testing Center to pick up tests for one of his classes at approximately 3:15 p.m.
“I think a lot of us take the crosswalk and we assume people are going to stop,” said Amin. “This event just told me some [drivers] are not watching. I’ve seen a lot of people not even bother.”
I’m so sad, that’s not fun 🙁 I always slow down here a lot. Especially at night.
This happens far too often. I feel like a semester doesn’t go by without a pedestrian/ car accident.
I was coming out of the testing center when I saw the student already been hit. An hour before I was on my way to the testing center and a car was coming very fast and did not stop even when an student was crossing, I was happy that I saw the car coming to fast and just waited. Then I saw this when I was on my way back. I will recommend UVU to take more precautions and especially be aware of this crazy drivers around on campus. My prayers go for this girl and family.
UVU needs to do something about that crosswalk. Put flashing lights or something. They’ve done it just about everywhere else around the campus, which is great! People always speed on 800 South because it’s downhill. It seems like someone gets hit every semester. I hope they see this message and make some considerations.
My wife saw the whole thing as she had just excited the testing center and was walking towards the crosswalk when the girl was suddenly hit, unaware herself that a distracted driver was approaching.My wife is shook up herself. I’m glad the student who was hit is stabilizing. We’ve been worried about her ever since. The girl rolled up onto the roof of the car after the initial impact and then fell to the road when the driver applied her breaks. Our thoughts are with the girl and her family.