NEWS
Car hits 4 girls at Johnson Street
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by Mike Gendall
Monday, December 4, 2006
A 27-year-old Madison driver crashed a car into four college-aged, female pedestrians at the corner of West Johnson and Bassett streets Friday night.
Though a Madison police sergeant on the scene Friday said one of the women was in "level-one trauma" and did not have a good prognosis, as of Sunday none of the injuries appear to be life threatening.
"One had a broken arm, one was treated for a head injury, and then the other two were treated for bumps and bruises," Madison Police Department Sgt. David McCaw said in a phone interview Sunday.
It is unknown whether any of the victims are University of Wisconsin students, but McCaw said he assumes so because of the age of the victims and the accident's proximity to campus. According to an MPD release, the victims were transported to the UW Hospital.
Also according to the release, the driver was 27-year-old Subramanian Ramachandran of Madison.
The car, which the release says was heading east on West Johnson Street, ended up crashing into a telephone pole in the corner of a parking lot outside Casa Bianca and Milio's.
McCaw, who was the second officer on the scene Friday night, told The Badger Herald alcohol is not believed to have been a factor, and said Ramachandran was not given a breathalyser or field sobriety test.
"What we have to do to give a breathalyser is have probable cause," McCaw said. "We just don't do it randomly."
The release said Ramachandran was cited for driving too fast for conditions, which were described as "slippery and partially covered with snow."
Friday night's accident also created traffic difficulties in the area, as West Johnson Street is a main thoroughfare for downtown traffic and a Badger women's basketball game at the nearby Kohl Center ended shortly beforehand. Traffic was completely blocked off at the intersection, which was packed with several police, fire and medical vehicles.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the city is lucky the pedestrians were not more seriously hurt, and that Friday's accident should be a reminder to pedestrians and drivers alike to be more careful in the campus area, especially in the winter months.
"You have to be more cautious than ever given the much larger number of pedestrians here," said Verveer, whose district includes the intersection of Bassett and West Johnson streets. "It could've been a lot worse."
