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`There is no safety net more effective on Millersville’s campus than Sergeant Melvin directing pedestrians across George St. Those patented words of,“cross at the crosswalks,” brings a sense of refuge which is felt in little frequency here at Millersville.
This brought me to think, how safe do I feel when I walk across the street here on campus?
A 2006 annual report done by the Borough totaled 150 car accidents, of the 150 accidents, close to 50 percent happened in the immediate area around Millersville University.
Pedestrian safety is taken very seriously by the campus police. Millersville parking regulation cites eight laws which shall be followed by motorists. The question is:, are these laws as distinct in diction as they rightfully should be?
The parking regulation has seemingly contradicted two of the laws: “The driver of any vehicle must yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian in a marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection,” and “pedestrians crossing the highway at any other point than at an intersection or a marked crosswalk must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles.”
Is the first law indicating that pedestrians can cross the street at locations other than intersections? If so, why is the second law stating that pedestrians are only allowed to cross at a “marked crosswalk”?
Clarity needs to be present when laws are written and Millersville should not be exempt from this rule.
The laws are only a small piece of why pedestrian safety should be called into question.
As a pedestrian, there are a number of things that haunt me: carelessness, stupidity and aggression from motorists.
The other day I was nearly hit on George St. by a lady putting make- up on her face.
Two weeks before that a concrete truck was seemingly speeding up under the assumption I would continue to walk (I did continue to walk, of course). I am sure that many other individuals throughout the campus community have stories such as these.
Instances such as these and laws that are bleak, which are rarely recognized by motorists, seem to attribute to an overall gloomy experience of walking across the streets of Millersville.
As a college community we can help cease this inclination of tenderness toward the streets of Millersville and gracefully find our way to class nice and safely.