UF professor Brady Tripp was taken to UF Health Shands Hospital on Thursday morning after an SUV hit his motorcycle.
At about 10 a.m., Tripp, a clinical associate professor in the Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, was driving a white motorcycle on Stadium Road when a teal 2007 Chevrolet Equinox pulling out of the drop-off area next to Keys Residential Complex hit him, University Police Sgt. Eddie King said.
The driver of the car, industrial engineering sophomore Nicholas Anthony Copelan Grimes, 20, was on his way to pick up his roommate, 20-year-old mechanical engineering sophomore Eddie Mendoza, from class.
Police said Tripp, 40, who was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, was going in and out of consciousness after hitting his head.
“The person was on the floor, not moving, with police all around him. I couldn’t even see if it was a guy or a girl,” said Paula Silvagni, a 20-year-old finance junior.
Her third-floor bedroom in Keys’ Building 2 overlooked the crash.
Police said Grimes, also a UF cheerleader, would be cited for careless driving after the accident and will pay a $154 fine.
The motorcycle’s front forks were bent, and a light was missing after the crash. The car had a dented door.
“This is a very serious crash,” said UPD spokesman Maj. Brad Barber. “We remind all drivers to stay alert and drive defensively both on and off campus.”
It is the second crash involving a car and a two-wheeled vehicle in two days. Two UF students were hospitalized Wednesday afternoon after a car hit the scooter they were riding at Southwest 19th Avenue and Southwest 34th Street.
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 2/13/2015 under the headline “UF professor in hospital after on-campus accident"]
