Emerson GS hit by car at Washington Road crosswalk, in stable condition

Nyssa Emerson GS, a graduate student in the chemistry department, was struck by a 2008 Toyota Prius Wednesday night while crossing Washington Road, according to a press release published by the Princeton Police Department.

Twenty-year-old Steven Cruz, the driver of the Prius, was alone in the car as it approached the marked crosswalk on Washington Road, south of Ivy Lane, at approximately 9:32 p.m.

Emerson said that she had gone to Frist Campus Center to get a cup of coffee beforehand before returning to the chemistry department.

“I think on one side of the road, a car had stopped for me, and so I entered just a crosswalk and it seemed clear, but the other car didn’t stop, and hit me,” Emerson said of the last thing she remembered about the accident.

Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad transported Emerson, who suffered critical injuries, to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, N.J.

The Prius, which sustained damage to the front end and windshield, was towed, according to the press release.

The officer investigating the accident, Patrolman Marshall Provost, who was also assisted by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office Serious Collision Response Team, is preparing charges against the driver, PPD Lieutenant Robert Currier said.

Currier added that there were no updates as of Thursday afternoon.

Cruz and Provost could not be reached for comment.

Although Emerson has no brain or spinal injury, she has broken bones and said she is in a lot of pain. She said she would remain under hospital care for several more days, although full recovery will take around three months.

“I think it’s important that they do something about that crosswalk because it’s happened to me multiple times before where I’ll be in the middle of it, and cars won’t stop for me,” Emerson said. "They need to do something about making cars comply with their rules of the road, illuminating it better. I don’t think I did anything wrong."

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Thomas Morrell GS, Emerson’s colleague at the Haw Yang Lab at the University, said that the crosswalk on Washington Road has been an issue for a while, at least for graduate students. Morrell, also a member of the Graduate Student Government, said the issue of lighting at the crosswalk has been raised before at meetings with the administration and Facilities.

Previously, the crosswalk at Washington Road had warning lights embedded into the road surface that would flash and warn approaching cars of pedestrians, according to Morrell. He said that the lights broke but were never replaced.

“I don’t know exactly what Facilities was thinking there," he said. "But that’s, I think, one of the most frustrating things about this case — the fact that that crosswalk really is not as safe as it could be, and so I think it’s important not only for people to be aware that, yes the crosswalk is dangerous, but in the future, that the University really should think about what’s the best way to improve visibility if there are pedestrians crossing."

Morrell said he did not think the accident was exclusively a graduate student issue.

“It could have easily been an undergrad or a faculty member,” Morrell said.

Members of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office Serious Collision Response Team, the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad and Capital Health Regional Medical Center did not respond to requests for comment.