Safety measures failed to prevent pedestrian crash
A Columbia man is still recovering in the hospital after a woman drove into him Sunday on Grindstone Parkway.
Randall Siddens, 33, was picking up cones after a triathlon with other employees from Ultramax Sports when Regine McCracken, 23, drove by a police vehicle and into two Ultramax employees and one of the company’s vehicles.
Siddens’ coworkers said he had surgery early Friday, which went well despite some obstacles such as a high temperature and elevated brain pressure.
Mark Livesay, owner of Ultramax Sports, said his team takes many steps to prevent something like this from happening.
He said even with all of the extra steps they take, some things they cannot control.
“There’s one variable I can’t control … is when we’re interacting in the public and we’re out in the community,” he said.
Ultramax Sports has put on the triathlon for 21 years, and Livesay said this was the first time he has seen something like this happen.
He said employees who work in the streets wear reflective vests the company provides, and according to a permit the company obtained from the city, all staff had radios in case of an emergency.
Ultramax Sports also had an ambulance on site, which Livesay said made a big different when Siddens was hits.
The group also said they had 15 officers between the Columbia Police Department and University of Missouri Police Department helping with safety.
Employees are still not sure exactly what caused McCracken to hit Siddens.
“We don’t know how she ended up in the lane with our people yet,” Livesay said.
He said it is also not clear if her vehicle struck Siddens before hitting their company vehicle, or if it was the other way around.
Based on the extent of his injuries, Livesay speculates it hit Siddens first.
For now, the team will continue to work as normal while waiting for updated information, but Livesay said their morale has taken a hit.
More than 700 people have donated to a gofundme page for Siddens in the past two days.
