After being hit by a car in Five Points, USC student sues Columbia, SCDOT
A University of South Carolina student who was hit by a car crossing Harden Street in Five Points this October is now suing the city of Columbia and the state Department of Transportation over the design of a crosswalk in the busy business district.
The lawsuit comes after the state recently wrapped up a $5 million effort to make Harden Street safer for pedestrians, including reducing lanes and adding new safety features like mid-block signalized crosswalks. A 2019 study found that the roadway was the most dangerous for pedestrians statewide.
Maya Trowbridge, a USC student, suffered multiple fractures throughout her body after being hit by “a large black sedan” while crossing Harden Street just outside of Eddie’s Calzone’s Oct. 31, 2025, according to the lawsuit, filed April 17 by attorney Drew Richardson.
Trowbridge and a friend waited at the crosswalk until a vehicle stopped and waved them across. Another vehicle in the other lane did not stop, and struck Trowbridge as she crossed the street, according to the lawsuit.
The student was “viciously flipped in the air and forcefully landed on the pavement,” after the collision. The lawsuit also says the driver of that vehicle stopped “for a brief amount of time and them drove away ... without assisting,” Trowbridge.
The suit accuses the city and Department of Transportation of negligence in the design and testing of the crosswalk.
The multi-million dollar pedestrian overhaul of Harden Street included new mid-block crosswalks where a person can press a button to activate flashing lights that indicate someone is crossing the street.
The lawsuit asserts that the Department of Transportation and the city of Columbia “knew or should have known … that a pedestrian-activated crosswalk system dependent on a pedestrian pressing a button – without adequate notice or a continuously active warning - creates an extremely hazardous condition for pedestrians who are unaware of or unable to activate the system.”
The lawsuit also states that drivers traveling down Harden Street “would not have anticipated that a crosswalk would have been located at an area other than [at] a vehicular intersection.”
Trowbridge’s lawsuit is asking for a jury trial to determine damages.
State and local officials in July 2025 celebrated the completion of the Harden Street work, which included reducing lanes, adding the new signalized crosswalks, and other work intended to make the area safer for people on foot.
Between 2013 and 2018, there were 232 crashes on a half-mile stretch of Harden Street, and 27 of those incidents led to injuries.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation declined to comment on the lawsuit. The State has also contacted the city of Columbia for a comment. Trowbridge’s attorney did not immediately respond to a call from The State.
