All drivers have presumably gone to traffic school, but a key element of students’ learning has been forgotten when they enter Nicholls campus—crosswalks.

Generally, student pedestrians ignore them once they enter campus. They are just white lines on the road designated for walking across to get to the other side of the street, but they are never conveniently placed. So instead, we just cross wherever we want to get where we need to go.

This is fine until someone gets hit. It might not be you. It could be the driver who flips out and wrecks into a pole or another vehicle. Either way, someone might get hurt, and it could be your fault.

Most of us do not use crosswalks because they seem to be in the most inconvenient places, at least 10 feet from where we want them to be most times. We also know that drivers on campus do not care much about crosswalks either.

See, another rule we forgot from traffic school is that drivers are supposed to stop at crosswalks. Yes, drivers are advised to come to a complete stop at crosswalks to see if any pedestrians are trying to cross. However, most drivers on campus try to speed over those white lines as if they are not even there, in the hopes that anyone trying to cross will not interrupt them. And if a person does mysteriously appear from behind a parked car, it is obviously their fault, right?

The truth is, campus is one huge parking lot. There are cars everywhere, some stationary and some on the move, and people getting in and out of cars and going to and from class. The vehicle to student population ratio seems almost as if it is split evenly when we are out there driving on campus roads, so no one should be able to ignore traffic rules. Just because they are called “traffic” rules does not mean pedestrians do not have to follow them.

Drivers need to realize that they cannot see through obstructions, and they need to slow down in case any pedestrians are walking around parked cars or trying to cross the street. Most times, parked cars stick out just far enough into the street that the second someone steps from behind it, they are in the path of a driver. This means that pedestrians also need to pause before walking from behind obstructions. If you cannot see over an obstruction, chances are high that a driver cannot see over it either.

As pedestrians on campus, many of us just cross the streets without looking both ways, figuring that it is campus, and walking students are more important than anyone in a car, so we have the right of way.

But as drivers, we assume that the road is our space, and pedestrians need to stop and wait for us or get out of our way.

Is this not hypocritical of us? Driver or pedestrian, it does not matter. At some point we are both, and we need to remember that and respect each other.

Maybe if we as drivers remember that pedestrians actually do have the right of way on crosswalks, we can create a safe space for us as pedestrians to cross. 

Finally, it is a little embarrassing to have to remind everyone, but please stop and look both ways before crossing the street.