Details emerge on South Lincoln Street accident
The victim of a pedestrian accident in which a car struck a young female pedestrian on South Lincoln Street Tuesday night, sustained “incapacitating” injuries, according to a five-page Traffic Crash Report.
EMS took the victim, 20-year-old sophomore fashion design major Moira Lumsden, to University Hospital Portage Medical after being struck by a car driven by 20-year-old William Salcedo, a senior zoology major.
Salcedo previously stated he did not want to comment to TV2 about the incident, but said it was dark when his car hit Lumsden.
“I just want to keep this private, as much as possible,” Salcedo said.
The report detailed the accident’s squence of events, stating that “(Salcedo) was traveling North inbound on South Lincoln St. approaching the Kent State University Esplanade. (Lumsden) was walking East inbound on the Kent State University Esplanade crossing S. Lincoln St.”
The report then explained that, “(Lumsden) failed to yield the right of way while crossing the roadway on the path and was struck by (Salcedo). (Lumsden) stated she looked South inbound and had enough time to cross as long as (Salcedo) slowed or stopped.”
Several other students witnessed the accident, including 19-year-old Alison S. Bell, a sophomore fashion design major, 20-year-old Miles A. Purdy, a senior English major and 20-year-old Rebecca A. Bens, sophomore fashion design major.
“I was right about at the edge of the crosswalk in my vehicle when there was a group of people that began to cross the crosswalk,” Purdy said in an interview with TV2. “There was another vehicle coming down the road, it was a ways up, so I assumed it would have begun to slow down… that’s when I heard a screech, saw lights bump and I realized the vehicle had not slowed down, and it connected just as about she was finished going across the crosswalk. The vehicle went another maybe two car lengths down the road, and I believe the individual, who had now at this time gone onto the hood of the car, rolled off another 10 feet and landed on the side of her head.”
According to Ohio Revised Code, specifically ORC 4511.46, “When traffic control signals are not in place, not in operation, or are not clearly assigning the right-of-way, the driver of a vehicle, trackless trolley, or streetcar shall yield the right of way… to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk.”
Additionally, ORC 4511.48 states “Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right of way to all vehicles, trackless trolleys, or streetcars upon the roadway.”
The site of the accident, however, may not officially be considered a crosswalk because the area where the accident occurred is not marked with diagonal white lines indicating a clear crosswalk.
ORC 4511.01 states that a crosswalk is defined as being either “That part of a roadway at intersections ordinarily included within the real or projected prolongation of property lines and curb lines,” or “Any portion of a roadway at an intersection or elsewhere, distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface.”
Salcedo did not sustain any injuries, according to the report, and was not given drug or alcohol tests. Lumsden’s status is unknown at this time.
Cameron Gorman is an assigning editor. Contact her at [email protected].