The accident occurred at 3:48 p.m. and involved a 1993 red Toyota Tercel with a male driver on the road perpendicular to the bicyclist. The bicyclist later explained that she had thought that the male driver had seen her coming in the distance.
The front bumper of his car hit her back tire, causing her to fall to the pavement. Certified EMTs happened to be on site and treated the student until the ambulance arrived.
Chief of Campus Police John Carter said that Brian Johnson of the town police was called to the incident to issue a citation to the driver for operating an uninsured motor vehicle. Haowever, no charges were pressed for the accident itself.
Before the accident had occurred, administrators had already began discussing the installation of speed bumps to slow traffic on campus.
"Our vision is of roadways that are calm enough so they are pedestrian friendly," said President Tom Gerety. "We're thinking of doing it pretty soon."
According to Director of Facilities Planning and Management Jim Brassord this bike accident does not affect the College's talks about the installation of on-campus speed bumps. "[Although] the College is in the process of studying design options for the speed bumps, the accident on Oct. 2 was not a situation in which speed was a factor and does not influence our decision about speed bumps," said Brassord.
Many students do not think that speed bumps are necessary. "I don't think there is a problem with speed on campus, so speed bumps aren't necessary," said Alex Bloom '04.
"I really don't think that speedbumps are the best solution," said Adam Gonzales '04. "Instead, better lit roads, more crosswalks on campus and posted speed limits would provide the same safety without the hassle. I personally hate speed bumps because I always scrape the bottom of my car on them."