Student injuries in crosswalk accidents prompts open forum

     Richard Malone, Milledgeville’s new deputy chief of police, met with GCSU Police Monday to discuss the safety of campus crosswalks.   In the past year, several students have been struck by vehicles around campus, two of which resulted in injuries. The specific crosswalks discussed are on East Hancock and Montgomery Streets.
     The Georgia Department of Transportation must approve any suggestions to change crosswalks or stop lights in Milledgeville.
     The GDOT determines any action because the roads in question are both state highways. GA highway 49 and 22 bring traffic flow through the commerce district downtown.
     Large tractor trailer trucks use these state roads in addition to student and citizen traffic, which increases the risk of pedestrian injury.
     Malone said a proactive approach in conjunction with city and GDOT engineers could help solve any issues. Placing counters during peak times would measure the pedestrian and vehicular traffic around campus.
     “Above all our department wants to accomplish the goal of a safe environment,” Malone said.
     Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Dr. Bruce Harshbarger sees the potential for problems more during slower traffic times.
     “There’s always the potential for antsy drivers who may not see a single pedestrian about to cross the street,” Harshbarger said.
     Lt. Joe Grant with GCSU Police attended the information meeting held by Malone. Grant sees bad etiquette on the part of both driver and pedestrian around the campus intersections.
     “People are in too big of a hurry most of the time,” Grant said. “They are walking and driving against the lights.”
     When students and drivers fail to follow traffic laws, serious injury is not far away.
     Grant mentioned several possible solutions to keep students safe. Longer crosswalk lights, timed crosswalks with a strict limit to get across, and sensors at the intersection corners to change the light when the crowd overflows.
     “Most of the time students don’t even know about or use the pedestrian push button to change the light,” Grant said.
The traffic increase around campus results from the growth of GCSU and its accompanying downtown commerce. Traffic jams are our growing pains.
     Deputy Chief Malone plans to run a full media campaign to educate students if the GDOT accepts any traffic rerouting or physical changes to crosswalks.
     With Alcohol Awareness Week coming up, student safety is on the campus radar. Along with the events dealing with alcohol education, Public Safety and the Student Judicial Board will hold a question and answer forum from 7 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 15.  The last part of the forum will be open to discuss popular student issues.
     In addition, GCSU Police plans to pass out pedestrian safety fliers around the heavy walking zones next week.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 12 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry