Driver hits pedestrian
Published Feb. 23, 2007
A vehicle making a prohibited left turn from Virginia Avenue collided with a pedestrian crossing Rollins Street on a crosswalk at approximately 8 p.m. Tuesday, MU police Capt. Brian Weimer said.
Charlene Binson, 51, was issued a summons for failure to yield to a pedestrian at a crosswalk and colliding with a pedestrian, Weimer said. He said Bison was not issued a summons for the prohibited left turn.
Weimer declined to release the identity of the pedestrian for privacy reasons but said she could not be blamed for the accident.
"She was just crossing the sidewalk like she was supposed to," Weimer said.
The 1999 Nissan Altima, driven by Binson, made a wide left turn around a raised median designed to discourage left turns, Weimer said. A sign indicating left turns are prohibited also marks the intersection.
Weimer said the victim was taken to University Hospital to be treated for minor leg injuries.
He said he did not know who called 911 after the accident but said there was no police officer watching the intersection at the time.
Campus Facilities spokesman Phil Shocklee said the raised medians were installed primarily to increase pedestrian safety. He said they were also designed to direct traffic away from the busier intersection of Rollins and Hitt streets.
He said the raised medians were installed during last year's summer intersession and that left turns were not prohibited before the installation of the median.
"It was just an intersection before that," he said. "They weren't prohibited in any way."