No one injured as 3 cars totaled on Blossom Street
A USC student’s car rolled onto another vehicle on Blossom Street Tuesday afternoon.
No one was injured as a result of the wreck, but all three cars involved were totaled, Columbia police spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said.
“They were lucky,” Timmons said.
The student’s car, a Subaru, was turning left into the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center against oncoming traffic when it was struck by a second car going straight on Blossom Street around 2:30 p.m., according to Timmons.
The impact flipped the Subaru over and rolled it on top of a third car, which was waiting to turn out of the Strom parking lot, she said.
How fast the cars were traveling wasn’t clear Tuesday afternoon, Timmons said, and police don’t know whether the other two drivers are students.
Patrick Esposito, 23, a fourth-year psychology student who was driving the Subaru, was cited for failing to yield in a left turn.
Turning cars have caused a handful of incidents in that area of campus recently.
In September, a student was struck by a car turning left into the Strom, and in February, a student turning left onto Assembly Street from Greene Street hit a 20-year-old woman who was crossing the street.
The safety concerns coincide with the growth of USC’s campus across Assembly Street toward the Congaree River.
The Darla Moore School of Business is nearing a move to its new building, USC is moving forward with plans to build a privately funded dorm behind the Carolina Coliseum and the university’s master plans include further growth in that area.
Earlier this month, USC, the city of Columbia and the state Department of Transportation began a $4.65 million project to improve pedestrian safety on Assembly Street between Blossom and Pendleton streets. USC is paying for $2.7 million of that work.
The project, which will remove median parking on Assembly, is expected to be finished by November.