With all of the talk recently on the driving situation on campus, I, of course, have felt the need to put my two cents in. As a frequent commuter to and from campus, as well as having once lived on campus, I have experienced both sides of the coin. I believe that some attention must be paid to this issue, for the safety of both the commuters, as well as the walking students.
When I lived on campus, I stayed in Harshman-Chapman, which resulted in a good long walk across campus everyday. I crossed several roads through campus frequently, both to classes, and to the parking lot to get to my car. At times, it took quite awhile to get across the road, due to a large amount of cars zooming carelessly by. As a matter of fact, it was difficult to even choose where to cross the road, as there are hardly any crosswalks on campus. It often felt like crossing the street was an “every man for himself” affair, with a good amount of sprinting, praying that cars would see me and shrieking when one came barreling around a corner. When you think about it, crossing the roads in Bowling Green is like being in a giant game of Frogger.
I don’t think I ever had any close calls with a car, but I have to admit that I was always nervous that a driver who was late for class or busy texting on the phone, would look down for a moment, zip around a corner and clip me. Although I drive myself to class now, I still get anxious walking from the commuter lot to classes.
From the other side of the story, any drive I take on campus during normal class hours becomes a nerve-wracking affair. Due to the lack of crosswalks and appointed road crossings on campus, students end up crossing the roads at all points, whenever and wherever they feel like it. Also, delivery trucks often park in the roads, taking up an entire lane. My view is often blocked by these trucks, and I’ve nearly run into multiple students crossing directly in front of them. It seems to me that students don’t even look both ways before crossing the road, something that my mother constantly instructed me to do every time I went out to play as a child.
I understand that pedestrians have the right of way, but shouldn’t that be at designated crossings, not anywhere they decide to cross the road? I don’t know how many times I have been driving down the road, slowly, I might add, made eye contact with a pedestrian and watched with utter horror as they proceeded to walk directly in front of me. Isn’t it common sense to wait a moment for a car to go by?
Also, the main roads bordering campus, such as East Wooster, are a problem as well. I see people crossing illegally every day, even going so far as to stand in the middle of the road, waiting for a chance to get across. I generally slow down and let these people cross, as I don’t want to see anyone get hurt, but should this be necessary?
As I said earlier, I truly feel that this is an important situation, one that should be looked at by administration as well as student government. I think that every student here would like to feel safe on their way to classes, both drivers and walkers.
My solution? Implementation of crosswalks and designated crossing areas at regular intervals around campus would help everyone involved. Campus drivers would know exactly where to slow down and expect walkers, while students could cross the roads with a greater since of security. Painting some crosswalks on the road, and putting forth an effort to enforce them, is a pretty cost-effective way of increasing campus health and safety for all. While we could all use a little bit more exercise, I don’t think sprinting across the road is the way to do it.
