A car accident occurred in the University Village on Sunday afternoon after a student ran a stop sign in front of Building 5 and struck another vehicle.
Patricia Ruffin, a Coconut Grove resident, crashed her gold Toyota Avalon into a tree while traveling east on Scodella Avenue. after being struck by a green Jeep Wrangler driven by UM junior Brett Feldman.
Feldman, who lives of the UV, was heading back to his apartment from the library around 1:45 p.m. when he collided with Ruffin’s car at the intersection of Scodella and Liguria Avenue.
“He just blew through the stop sign and clipped her car from the side,” said Eric Lemberg, a resident of the UV who witnessed the accident.
Paramedics arrived at the scene quickly when students from Building 5 heard the crash from their apartments and called the police. They left shortly after determining that no one was seriously injured.
Ruffin, who had pain in her right hand and a swollen lip from the crash, had never before been in an accident. She was cutting through campus with her elderly mother on her way to church in Coconut Grove.
“It totally scared me,” she said, describing how the crash happened quickly. “I’m just glad my mother was wearing her seatbelt.”
Feldman, who says he never really sees people driving dangerously in the UV, was issued a citation for running a stop sign. He said he was thankful that no one was badly hurt.
The speed limit is not clearly posted around the UV, but is 20 miles per hour according to campus policy.
The intersection of Scodella and Liguria joins Buildings 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the University Village and receives a steady flow of traffic from both drivers and pedestrians.
Senior Steven Stuts, who lives in Building 3, says that all of the intersections in the UV are dangerous.
“I’m surprised this doesn’t happen every day,” he said. “People run those stop signs all the time.”
David Sargent may be contacted at dsargent@themiamihurricane.com.