It is not yet clear whether the woman, who was badly injured and was taken to hospital, is a university student or employee. She suffered serious injuries to her head and leg.
The driver of the vehicle, a 41-year-old man from Rotterdam, was detained following the accident. According to a police spokesperson, eye witness statements suggest that he was not paying attention when he hit the woman. The man had not been drinking and was not driving too fast but was distracted at ‘an unfortunate moment’. The impact shattered the vehicle’s windscreen.
Previous accidents
Employees and students have been saying that the crossing is too dangerous for many years now. People regularly need to jump out of the way of speeding cars. Two years ago a PhD student was also seriously injured while crossing, and a cyclist was hit during that same period.
At that time, the university started discussions with the municipality about improving traffic safety. As that accident had taken place in darkness, the municipality decided to install brighter lamps above the crossing. Students have been asking for traffic lights to be installed, but so far nothing has come of this.
