Shortly before 10 a.m., USC’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) responded to a call about a pedestrian hit by a car just outside DPS headquarters near the southwest corner of the University Park campus.
Captain David Carlisle of USC DPS describes the accident (video Kevin Lu and Kate Cagle).
Dr. Freddi Segal-Gidan was hit by student driving a blue BMW 3-series, said Capt. David Carlisle of DPS. She was crossing the street on McClintock Boulevard between Tutor Hall and the Gerontology Center, where she teaches class.
Segal-Gidan was taken to California Hospital to treat a “head injury,” Carlisle said. California Hospital would not comment on her condition.
A witness at the scene said Segal-Gidan was “coherent enough” to ask that somebody inform her class that it will be canceled.
Neither DPS nor the LAPD South Bureau, which is taking the lead in the investigation, would identify the driver of the BMW. They did say that he is a male student at USC. Carlisle said the car was going “really slow,” probably less than 25 miles per hour.
The initial reports show that Segal-Gidan was at fault in the accident, Carlisle said. Segal-Gidan was crossing in the middle of the block, not in a crosswalk. The chalk marks left by police were still visible on the pavement Wednesday afternoon.
An employee in the Gerontology Department said people cross at that exact spot between Tutor Hall and the Gerontology Center frequently, and usually don’t walk to the end of block for a crosswalk.
