Passersby’s lack of concern shocks student witness

Nicholas Marsh was riding his bike to class Oct. 7 when he collided with a car.

“I ride my bike around campus quite a bit,” he said. “I was going to class heading down Summit Street on the sidewalk.”

Josiah Begg was driving on Summit Street when he saw the collision between Marsh and the car.

“I was sitting at the Summit-Risman intersection heading eastbound when I heard a bang and saw the bike go about 5 or 10 feet out into Summit Street,” said Begg, a junior justice studies major.

Begg said upon seeing the accident occur, he pulled his car off into the commuter lot and called the university police explaining what he saw.

While many people driving and walking in the area saw the accident, Begg said most continued along their path as if nothing happened.

“The worst thing I saw was that when the biker was hit and just sat up and started crawling/walking to the curb, the car behind the driver who hit him did not even get out of the car to check,” Begg said.

Marsh, a sophomore exploratory major, said he didn’t feel fully conscious until he was taken away to the ambulance.

“I blacked out. Even now I don’t remember much,” Marsh said. “I really started being conscious when I was being carried away on the stretcher.”

Marsh said he vaguely remembers lying in the grass, looking up at the driver and having police officers asking if he knew what day it was.

Begg said he was very surprised at the number of people who witnessed the collision but didn’t go to check on the rider.

“By the time I got over to the biker, the only people with him were the driver and a couple that was walking,” Begg said. “I thought his leg was broken because of the way he was holding it.”

Marsh said he was released from Robinson Memorial Hospital at around 1:30 p.m. that day. He had no broken bones and went through countless X-rays and CT scans. His bike frame was dented.

“I was able to make it to my calc class later that day,” Marsh said. “That was kind of my main focus of the day. That morning was the first class I ever missed and I guess I had a pretty good reason to.”

The driver, Victoria Nicholson, a Kent State student, could not be reached for comment.

Marsh said the extent of his injuries is road rash, scrapes, a sore and bruised right leg and a big bump on his head.

“I’m not sure who had the right of way, and I think I popped out in front of the PARTA bus and we couldn’t see each other,” Marsh said. “Neither one of us was cited.”

Through all the stress of the day, Marsh said he did find some comedy.

“Later that evening, I looked at my e-mail and the class I was riding to when the accident happened had been cancelled,” Marsh said.

Contact safety reporter Suzi Starheim at [email protected]