Campus commuters beware

This past weekend, the lives of a family of four were lost in a horrific motor vehicle accident in south Georgia. Sadly, this was only one of several accidents occurring over the holiday weekend.

Equally frightening is the rising number of pedestrian fatalities nationwide. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported an increase of about 600 fatalities of this kind from 2004 to 2005. The toll reached 43,443 this past year.

In Atlanta, because the tendency among drivers is to exceed the speed limit, this statistic becomes even more worrisome. The city is a dangerous place for walkers and bike riders, and the campus is no exception.

Unfortunately, with the high volume of traffic at Tech, pedestrians and bicyclists are at a very high risk while on campus. Every day on Atlantic Drive, for instance, automobiles must drive among a sea of walkers and bicyclists.

Bicyclists, some of whom do not wear helmets, often must ride in the middle of the street, sometimes because of the sidewalk traffic.

Although many drivers are accustomed to being cautious on campus, there are still some who speed through campus as if they are driving on the wider city streets.

People belonging to all three of these groups need to exercise caution. In order to make the campus a safer place, it is worthwhile to remember certain subtle but important points.

1) Drivers should follow speed limits within a reasonable range. It is not appropriate to treat campus streets, even wider ones, as regular roadways; people who cross these streets, whether it be at an intersection or in the middle of a street, often expect cars to stop for them (as they should).

The intersection of Atlantic Drive and Ferst Drive is especially dangerous because of the recent change from a three-way stop sign to a normally functioning traffic light.

In the past week, this has caused some confusion among both pedestrians and drivers. This change will take some time to get used to (even though there used to be a traffic light at the intersection, it has been a three-way stop for a considerable period of time), and both groups should be equally cautious when passing through the intersection.

Drivers should remember that even in between intersections, where there is no sign signaling drivers to yield to pedestrians, pedestrians always have the right of way. At the same time, however, pedestrians should stick to designated pedestrian crossings.

2) Pedestrians should also be careful enough to recognize reckless drivers who may not stop for them. They should not immediately assume that all drivers will acknowledge their right of way.

The safest thing to do would be to assume that no drivers will be cautious, but this is often unpractical because of the heavy vehicular traffic on campus.

If pedestrians can at least maintain enough alertness to be able to tell when a driver appears reckless, this could significantly reduce the risk of accidents.

3) Bicyclists need to wear helmets and be much more careful about where they bike. After driving to campus nearly every day with the exception of school holidays for two years, what I have noticed most is that bicyclists are too carefree. On far too many occasions I have been driving behind a bicyclist riding in the middle of the street even though the sides of the street were empty.

Many bicyclists like this drive as if they were driving regular automobiles at regular speeds. It is acceptable for bicycles to occupy the street if the sidewalks or bike lanes are too crowded, but it is unreasonable for them to do so if they are not. Even if there is some space available, bicyclists should try to ride in the bike lane or out of the way of larger vehicles.

Even worse, some bicyclists ride in the middle of the road but do not follow the same rules as drivers. While driving down Sixth Street, a relatively narrow passage, it is fairly common for drivers to come across bicycles riding against the flow of traffic. These bicyclists could walk their bikes across sidewalk on Sixth Street or across the Burger Bowl.

For these commuters, I recommend following the example set by the club cart drivers. They usually stay on the sides of roads so that cars can pass them.

Biking in the middle of an empty street is not only extremely dangerous, but it also backs up traffic. If they make drivers angry, bicyclists put themselves at an unacceptably high risk. They need to remember that if they are involved in an accident with a motor vehicle, extremely severe injuries are likely.

In conclusion, it is important that all three groups-drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists-pay special attention to the others.

Drivers, since they are ultimately responsible for any collisions with pedestrians or bicyclists, need to exercise the greatest care by following speed limits and yielding to pedestrians.

Pedestrians need to be careful and remember that all drivers may not be used to driving on campus. Finally, bicyclists need to remember that their bicycles are not cars. They should not take unnecessary risks when they can travel at the same speed using a safer route.

Keeping these simple points in mind, we can minimize risks and avoid posting horrific fatality statistics of our own.