Is Trinity facing a golf cart safety crisis? On Oct. 28, 2024, a Trinity golf cart hit Kira Kruegler, class of ‘24, and her friend Eden Saunders when they were on campus during Alumni Weekend, according to a past Trinitonian article. This year, on Sept. 9, another cart hit and killed Trinicat Flora, according to a representative of Cat Alliance Trinity (CAT).
The Office of Risk Management is working towards ensuring these golf cart accidents do not continue. Director of Risk Management and Insurance Jennifer Adamo wrote in an email interview that Trinity’s golf cart drivers must undergo defensive driver and cart safety training to become authorized drivers before operating a university-owned cart on campus.
Golf cart drivers can include a variety of people within each of the university’s departments, from faculty to student employees to volunteers. On Sept. 29, Trinity Policy Assistant sent an email to students outlining numerous policy changes, including a recent amendment to the Authorized Driver policy. According to Adamo, they recently revised the policy to require recurrent training for cart drivers. Additionally, the online Authorized Driver Policy includes a map of pedestrian-only areas where golf carts are not permitted to drive.
“While we cannot guarantee that there will be fewer accidents, the university’s requirement that cart drivers must be authorized to drive is a higher criterion than most universities. Risk Management continues to monitor and evaluate with a goal of zero golf cart accidents,” Adamo wrote in an email.
Saunders, one of the victims of the accident that took place on Oct. 28, filed a petition on March 21 seeking a deposition from a Trinity representative to investigate a potential negligence claim against the cart driver. This alone is not a lawsuit, but rather a request for investigation into the issue before a potential suit. The case is still pending.
Kruegler, whose incident was nearly a year ago, said that she is still affected by her injuries despite healing from her injuries. She suffered partial thickness tears of her medial collateral ligament (MCL) as well as her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and underwent months of physical therapy. Currently, Krueger said her injuries are relatively under control.
Now, Krueger occasionally comes back to campus to help out with the handbell ensemble and still has concerns about the golf carts she sees around campus.
“They get comfortable with driving golf carts, and I totally get it. It’s the same way you can get comfortable driving a car or a truck, but especially somewhere you know there’s going to be a lot of pedestrians, you just have to be really, really careful and really mindful,” Kruegler said.
Kruegler was also involved in CAT during her time at Trinity and expressed sorrow over Flora’s death. She said she was heartbroken over the news and that her experience heightened those feelings. She said what happened to her was terrifying, but she survived, and Flora’s death left her devastated.
“It makes me angry, frankly. Again, I’m not looking for vengeance or revenge. I’m talking about this, and I want some change because I care about the university and because I love being here,” Kruegler said.
Cat Huang, senior human communication and psychology double-major and CAT’s community outreach officer, said that CAT is currently looking into ways to prevent further incidents and protect the Trinicats going forward. Additionally, she said she hopes CAT’s public statements will help raise awareness for this problem at Trinity and on other campuses.
“I know that we [CAT] have a very significant and well-loved presence on campus, and I’m hoping that this single event will be enough to prevent this from happening again,” Huang said.
CAT’s Kaitlyn Rieder, senior biochemistry and molecular biology major and Marrs McLean station captain, had known Flora since she was a first-year. She said that on top of the official memorial ceremony for Flora, which occurred Oct. 1 at 7 p.m., CAT will also decorate a chair outside of Marrs McLean Hall in her honor.
“She was feral for a little bit, but once she finally got more socialized, she was really friendly and she was really cuddly,” Rieder said. “A lot of the [first-years], especially, got to know her cuddly side and really liked her, and then for us who knew her for four years and fed her for four years, it feels weird to go to the station and not see her anymore.”
According to Facilities Services, no other incidents have been reported. Those affected by the confirmed accidents have expressed their hope for a safer future for Trinity’s pedestrians and cats.
