A man riding a motor scooter died after a collision with a car at the intersection in front of De Neve Plaza around 11 a.m. on Saturday, police said.
Witnesses described a scene where the victim, who was apparently trying to beat a yellow light, swerved his 2009 Vespa to avoid hitting a white 2003 Acura that was turning left onto Charles E. Young Drive.
The maneuver caused the scooter to skid into the right headlight of the car. First-year Michelle Caine was at the stoplight on her way to De Neve dining hall for lunch when she heard a screeching skid and an earsplitting noise.
“It was the sound of metal crushing, like a tin can being squeezed,” said Caine, a pre-microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student.
The impact caused the driver of the Vespa to spin out and fall off the scooter, Caine said. The car also spun out sideways.
Witnesses on the other side of the crosswalk came to aid the victim on the ground. One of the bystanders checked his pulse and performed CPR, but the victim stopped breathing at the scene, Caine said.
Neither of the drivers involved in the accident was a UCLA student, police said. The victim was in his late 30s and was a visitor to campus, UCPD Lt. Maureen O’Connell said. An ambulance transported the driver of the scooter to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The driver of the car was evaluated at the scene for impairment and was then released.
The driver looked “visibly shaken,” said first-year undeclared student Michelle Lin, who was also at the crosswalk when the collision occurred.
Police could not confirm the cause of the accident or whether the driver of either vehicle was impaired. An investigation into the cause of the accident is under way.