GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) — A University of Florida student struck by a Krishna Lunch box truck on Monday is improving, according to Gainesville Police Department officials. They said the student has multiple fractures.
A senior advisor with Krishna House said the driver is distraught and is in counseling. The organization said the driver was sober and qualified to operate the vehicle at the time of the crash.
Just last week, Krishna House met with university officials about driving their truck on campus. The group had arranged to park the truck near Library West to avoid driving through campus, as members said they were uncomfortable operating a large truck on roads with heavy pedestrian traffic.
The organization had ordered electric carts to transport food to campus, but said the carts had not yet arrived.
“It was always uncomfortable to have a big truck going down that drive, but like I said, there were other trucks. And just last week, we were planning on how to change that, so we’re accelerating that as fast as we can,” said Bob Cohen, senior advisor with Krishna House.
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Krishna House members held a private prayer vigil for the student the night of the crash and canceled campus lunch out of respect. The group said it will decide when to resume service on a day-to-day basis.
The organization has served on the University of Florida campus for more than 50 years and said nothing like this has ever happened before.
“The safety and security of the campus community is among our top priorities. Among the ways we promote campus safety is limiting vehicular traffic on campus during the busiest times of day, and we support any measure that helps accomplish that goal,” university officials stated.
Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward said more safety measures may be needed, but that he is waiting for the results of the ongoing investigation.
“Following that, we’ll see what else can possibly be done. The University of Florida has done a good job of restricting who can drive on campus, and I expect to see more of that in the future. We will continue again to implement things whenever we have the money, and whenever we can find opportunities to work with F-DOT and our other partners,” Ward said.
State officials conducted a traffic study along University Avenue in 2020–2021 following two student pedestrian deaths. That road is approximately 100 yards from where Tuesday’s crash occurred.
Following the study, officials added lighted and raised crosswalks, changed the flow of traffic, and reduced the speed limit. Ward said those changes were intentional efforts to improve safety and require drivers to be more focused.
“The Florida Department of Transportation is saddened by the news of a traffic crash which occurred on University Avenue [Monday]. Our thoughts and prayers are with those involved.
As standard procedure the FDOT reviews all traffic crashes on state roadways which involve life-threatening injuries and or a death. When law enforcement completes their investigation, FDOT engineers will review their determination as to the causation of the crash.
If there are improvements that can be made to enhance the safety of the facilities, FDOT will work to implement those improvements. This process includes careful analysis by professional engineers and other evaluations which may be warranted.”
No charges against the driver have been announced at this time.
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