Dangerous Crosswalks

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Should we be hesitant to cross at the Ferguson intersection?

There are several dangerous crosswalks at the University of Alabama, but the intersection of Campus Drive and McCorvey Drive (Ferguson intersection) becomes very hectic during the course of a normal school day. This crosswalk can not only be dangerous to students crossing the street, but also time consuming to drivers who wait for the students to cross. I conducted a small survey asking twenty random students about implementing a crosswalk at the Ferguson intersection, and all agreed something had to be done.

Student’s can tell you how stressful it can be to use the crosswalk when there isn’t a traffic director to help people cross. Not all drivers yield to pedestrians like they are supposed to, which can cause chaos when a student assumes he/she has the right of way, and a car zooms past without yielding. Students also encounter situations where they are standing at the crosswalk waiting to cross, but are kind enough to let the car pass by, and when the driver insists otherwise confusion occurs, and can possibly lead to an accident if either party is not paying attention.

It can also be very time consuming to drivers who get stuck waiting for students when classes let out. This kind of time consumption often leads to a backup flow of traffic down Campus Drive. Traffic jams lead to road rage in some drivers, which makes one impatient and unwilling to yield the right of way to pedestrians crossing the street.

From my own experience I can relate to both pedestrians and drivers, because I have a car, and I also live on campus. As a pedestrian you are never too sure about what drivers may do, some may let you cross and some may drive by as if they never saw you. From a driver’s perspective, any chance you have to make a turn at an intersection needs to be taken advantage of, because if you hesitate, then more students will enter the crosswalk, which by law drivers are supposed to yield to them. Often times a driver will have an opportunity to go after one pedestrian crosses, but if that person walks slow then that allows time for another sea of students to cross, which can leave you sitting at the stop sign for minutes.

If a stoplight was placed at the Ferguson intersection then it would be easier for students and teachers to know when his or her time was to cross. A perfect example of this would be at the intersection of McCorvey Drive and Hackberry Lane. There is a stoplight at this intersection, which allows pedestrians to cross once light permits them to do so. The stoplight also lets drivers go once the light is green and there are no pedestrians in the crosswalk. This is why that particular intersection has less traffic and confusion.

By implementing a stoplight system at the Ferguson intersection the University’s traffic on Campus drive will decrease immensely. It would also make it easier for students to cross without hesitating to see if a driver will let them cross. Having a stoplight would effectively help all students get to where they need to go in a more efficient and safer manner.