Officials ID man hit, killed by car on Madison’s west side

Police said a Madison man is dead after he was hit by a car while crossing a street on the city’s west side Monday evening.

The incident happened just before 8 p.m. Monday on eastbound Odana Road near Whitney Way.

Police said the vehicle was turning from northbound Whitney Way onto eastbound Odana when Bihm Limbu, 53, was struck. Limbu was not in a crosswalk at the time of the collision, police said.

The driver, a 35-year-old Madison woman, remained on the scene following the accident and has cooperated with police.

“She even indicates that she is very careful coming around the intersection from Whitney to Odana, and she was merging left to take that left-hand turn into the HyVee parking lot, and that’s when she struck this individual and just didn’t see him,” Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain said.

No citations have been issued, and DeSpain said the driver took a voluntary blood test. They don’t suspect she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.

According to Madison police statistics, there have been 185 crashes around the intersection of Whitney and Odana since 2011. In those five years, there have only been four accidents involving pedestrians. Monday night’s collision was the only one in recent years where someone was killed.

People who frequently walk along or across Odana Road said they’re going to be more careful.

“Whenever I try to cross, no one ever stops for you,” pedestrian and bus rider Francesca Vitto said. “And I’ve had plenty of times where I’ve been almost hit going across because no one stops.”

Crystal Schlenker has lived off of Odana for seven years and walks across the road every day.

“It can get kind of scary sometimes,” Schlenker said. “But I think you almost have to exert yourself to cross the street sometimes because cars won’t stop for you. If you don’t try to go in the crosswalk, then you’ll stay there forever almost.”