Visiting scholar killed in vehicle-pedestrian accident on Mount Hope Road
By Jacob Carpenter and Kyle Feldscher (Last updated: 02/17/09 12:01am)A 44-year-old man who was attending MSU as a visiting scholar was killed Sunday night, the same day he arrived from his home in China.
Tao Li was crossing Mount Hope Road, walking north along Harrison Avenue, when he was struck by a westbound vehicle at about 9:15 p.m. Sunday night, East Lansing police Capt. Tom Johnstone said. Li was taken to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Johnstone said police don’t expect the driver of the vehicle to be charged in the accident, but the case is being handled by the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office. He said the driver of the vehicle did not appear intoxicated, and it appeared Li walked out in front of the vehicle.
“I don’t believe (charges will be filed), but certainly we will make sure that we do a thorough investigation,” Johnstone said. “An accident of this nature always gets forwarded to the prosecutor’s office.”
Johnstone said Li and two other pedestrians intended to walk from a Spartan Village apartment to his residence in Cherry Lane Apartments. The group incorrectly walked south on Harrison Avenue after leaving Spartan Village, then realized they needed to turn around after crossing Mount Hope Road.
The two other pedestrians crossed Mount Hope Road safely before Li, Johnstone said.
Li was visiting East Lansing as a participant in MSU’s Visiting International Professionals Program, or VIPP, and had arrived from China earlier Sunday.
“All of us at VIPP are deeply saddened by the loss of Tao,” said Michael Miller, director of VIPP, in a statement. “This is a horrible tragedy and our condolences go out to his family and friends.”
The program allows foreign professionals to internationalize their work by meeting with faculty members at MSU who work in the same field. The accident occurred before Li met with program coordinators to determine which field he would enter.
An official within the program said Li had expressed an interest in international politics during his application process.
The Mount Hope Road and Harrison Avenue intersection has a traffic light, but does not have crosswalks for pedestrians. The intersection is lit by two small streetlights.
Johnstone said it was possible a lack of lighting in the area
contributed to the accident.
“I’m sure it was (a factor),” he said. “In the evening time, it gets dark (there).”
The fatal vehicle-pedestrian accident Sunday was the second in the last three years on Mount Hope Road.
Dannielle Brandt was killed on Feb. 3, 2006 as she crossed Mount Hope Road along Farm Lane. Brandt had been heading north from the MSU Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education to her dorm room.
At the time of the accident, there were no crosswalks at the intersection. Sidewalks and crosswalks have since been built along Farm Lane, from the southwest edge of Mount Hope Road. This area of Mount Hope Road is under jurisdiction of the Ingham County Road Commission, while the area where Li was killed is under East Lansing’s jurisdiction.
Originally Published: 02/16/09 10:23am
Townsend
02/16/09 12:15pmTerrible story; my condolences to Li’s family… Even though Harrison & Mt. Hope are off main campus, fact is, we once again should renew traffic calming efforts on campus. Although better than the AJ Foyt days of the 90s on East & West Circle Drive, walking across roadways on and around campus is much more frightening at MSU than at most major campuses. We need more speed bumps to slow people down.
ieands
02/16/09 1:02pmCondolences to Li’s family. At the corner of Harrison and Mt Hope? a little confused.
BigC
02/16/09 2:06pmCondolences to Li’s family. A liitle confused about the accident location.
1. Sunday when a car traveling west on Mount Hope Road struck him;
2. The group was walking from Cherry Lane Apartments to Spartan Village aparments at the time of the accident
msugrl
02/16/09 2:57pmI don’t think that it necessarily has anything to do with speed. There are been more than one incident on Mt. Hope…why don’t they put some street lights up or something? This incident is so sad and unfortunate, but I feel that the driver probably couldn’t even see the man walking on the road…is there a sidewalk he could’ve been using?
Bruce
02/16/09 3:32pmCondolencense to his family. That place is so dark. I had a lot trouble watching for pedestrians at night around that place. You don’t see them until you get really close. Similar situations in other places on campus. I hope more roadlights can be put up and no more tragedies like these should ever occur. Both drivers and pedestrians need to pay extra care at night.
Yuanchang Sun
02/16/09 5:48pmMy condolences to Li’s family.
Satunda
02/16/09 6:03pmMy condolences to Mr. Li’s family. Mt. Hope needs to be well lit. It is too dark and dangerous especially when there is snow around.
aa
02/16/09 7:42pmI don’t think Li’s unfamiliarity with East Lansing should be listed as contributing factor. It was a tragedy.
Yang Zhang
02/17/09 12:35amMy condolences to Li’s family. Is there anyone responsible for this accident? At least MSU should do something to comfort Li’s family.
dc
02/17/09 8:09amMy condolences to Mr. Li’s family. There are a combination of factors which may have contributed to this event and until the investigation is complete and the details are released it is a mute point to say what needs to be done to prevent this type of scenario from happening again. Nationally, over 40,000 people die each year on the roadways and in the Lansing and East Lansing area every year there are those perfect storm crashes which contribute to this alarming total. Please be careful out there and not only drive defensively but also walk or bike defensively. At MSU we are ONE.
John
02/17/09 8:23amCondolencense to his family. I honestly can’t imagine how hard this would be to his family. They must have received this news when it’s bright in the morning.
Anyhow, it’s hard NOT to see the headlights at 9:15PM. It SHOULD be dark enough to spot it easily which means that most likely the driver forgot to turn on the headlights or some sort.
Unless of course, Li totally ignored the car driving on the road intentionally which in fact there is still a chance for that to happen.
...View full comment »
Condolences
02/17/09 10:46amMy condolences to Mr. Li’s family.
I do hope that the driver had his/her headlights on (hard to believe they could forget at 9:15 p.m. on a lowly lit road), but it’s also a factor that the speed limit on Mt. Hope Road is 45 m.p.h. and it isn’t uncommon to see drivers going 50 m.p.h. or so on that road. If you crossed it like a campus road, you would assume the driver would be going a lot slower than that and could react to you crossing. Better lighting on the road would help, as would pedestrian crosswalks with signals. I don’t see it commonly used by students, but there are many bikers who cross Mt. Hope on Harrison.
MSU
02/17/09 1:11pmGod Bless you and your loved ones Tao, we’re so very sorry this terrible accident occured. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
Dr.MSU
02/17/09 6:13pmMy condolences to Professor Li’s family. May his soul rest in peace.
homaltson
02/17/09 10:34pmThis is definitely a tragedy, for both the family and friends of the victim AND the driver of the vehicle. I happen to know this family very well and they are all grieving over this accident. Prayers go out for all of you who are touched by this.
Jessica
02/17/09 10:51pmI was actually the only witness to this accident and I can tell you that it was DEFINITELY dark and the driver had his headlights on.
I was going the opposite way and I barely even saw then cross my lane.
The location is definitely wrong. It was NOT on the corner, it was actually pretty far from the corner. It was about halfway to the commuter lot, in front of the poultry research center, if that is what the building is called.
It was horrible to see this accident. His family is in my prayers.
Lijun
02/19/09 9:22amMy condolences to his family.
Is there anything we can do for him and his family?
John Lee
02/20/09 7:19pmcondolences to Mr. Li’s family. But is there anything we can do for him and his family? Who should be responsible for this accident?
AML
02/21/09 12:33amIt is unfortunate for this to occur especially to someone who is new to the campus. I think that Mount Hope needs more lights, so people are able to see their surroundings at night.
Spartan
02/21/09 10:00pmI know from a Chinese friend that there is a memorial fund account opened at the MSU Federal Credit Union. In order to make a donation, please mention “Dr. Li Tao Memorial Fund” in a branch of MSU Credit Union, or write a check to “Dr. Li Tao Memorial Fund”.
Zhai
02/21/09 11:01pmIt was terrible! There needs to be safe ways to cross Mt. Hope! I see students cross all the time, on foot or bike. It is dangerous even during daytime, not to mention at night. Pedestrians, please be very very careful!!! and drivers, please watch out for people crossing!!!