I once heard someone tell me the words of Paul Conn. "There are two kinds of Lee students who cross the street. The quick and the dead." Crossing the street can be a challenging task, especially at night. Everyone has seen the drivers that FLY through campus, catching air as they go over the raised crosswalks. I don't know about anybody else, but getting flattened by a speeding car with load music is not on the agenda for my college career. Thankfully, there have been attempts to prevent the squashing of prospective students. Numerous signs have been placed along the streets of Lee University to let drivers know there are students that may be crossing. It's not difficult to notice someone in the road, but if there is a car racing at 50 mph towards me, I tend to get a little nervous and antsy. So maybe it's not just awareness of crossing pedestrians? Maybe speed could be a factor that plays into it as well. I found a passage in the book that relates speeding to pedestrian injuries. The book is called "Traffic Safety and Human Behavior" and has the notion that advertising and television affects the way people view speeding.
"Despite the fact that in interviews and surveys people stress the importance of safety in the choice of the cars they drive, marketing gurus - in general - believe otherwise. This is revealed in content analyses of advertisements and commercials for new cars that often depict unsafe driving, especially speeding." (p. 274)
Obviously, getting hit by a car would not benefit anyone in a positive way. Students need to watch out as much as drivers and never assume that they have been seen. As opposed to the game of frogger, getting up and trying again would not be the case here. So look both ways, listen, and look again. Don't get hit and don't hit anyone either. Not good.
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