Some Pitt-Greensburg students calling for change after student hit by car near campus

HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Some Pitt-Greensburg students are calling for changes after a crash at an intersection near campus sent one of their classmates to the hospital.

“Hopefully she recovers,” senior Ryan McGrath said. “It’s not safe out here at this intersection at night. Thoughts and prayers.”

State police say Audrey Fruehauf, 18, of Rector, is still at UPMC Presby Hospital with serious injuries.

Investigators tell Channel 11, she was walking along Finoli Drive near the campus’ front entrance. Then, she pushed the traffic light button and ran into the crosswalk on Mt. Pleasant Road when a driver, who had a green light, hit her around 5:30 Tuesday night.

The driver stayed at the scene until police came.

“I was actually on my way back from class around 6 o’clock,” McGrath said. “I saw all the lights and the traffic and police cars and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’”

McGrath said he’s one of some 300 Pitt-Greensburg students who have to cross the intersection every day going from the dorm rooms to class.

“It’s a little bit of a conundrum because we have classes there and classes up the hill a little bit further but the closest way to walk there, you’d have to walk along the bridge, which is very narrow on the sides,” he said.

Senior Juan Romero also crosses at Finoli Drive and Mt. Pleasant Road on his way to class.

“For me, yes, I feel safe,” Romero said. “I usually press the button, but more often than not, when there’s no cars on the road, no cars going over, there’s no need to press the button.”

Several students said there have been several close calls there.

Channel 11 news reporter Antoinette DelBel looked up crash data from the start of this year through September. It showed there have been two crashes involving pedestrians in Hempfield, but neither of them were near the Hempfield campus.

Students said cars often speed down the road and they want to see more lighting.

“It’s very dark, especially now that it’s winter and it’s getting dark at 5 o’clock,” said McGrath.

Several students said they’d also like to see a sidewalk put in along the nearby bridge so they don’t have to walk in the street.

“You’re like that close to the car,” McGrath said motioning with his hands.

A spokesperson for the university said counselors are available for students.

State police said it’s still too early in the investigation to say if the driver will face charges.

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