Dear Editor,
One would be hard-pressed to find a student on the ETSU campus that hasn’t nearly been run over by a car while walking through a crosswalk at some point or another.
We have a major problem on this campus with obeying the rules of the road when it comes to pedestrians and cars.
Just last week, I was walking across the intersection of Dossett Drive and John Robert Bell Drive, and, when I reached the middle of the crosswalk, was quite surprised to see a car come around the corner straight toward me at a high rate of speed.
The driver then slammed on the brakes and honked the horn at me because I was in the way.
I’ve nearly been run over several times, but I had never actually been honked at before.
Apparently I missed the memo stating that, when using crosswalks, I am supposed to be prepared to disapparate, Harry Potter-style, from the middle of the street at any given moment.
Pedestrians have the right-of-way in crosswalks.
If you are driving up to a crosswalk and there is a person standing on the corner of the sidewalk, that crosswalk just effectively turned into a stop sign for you.
When you drive up to a crosswalk, you’re supposed to stop so pedestrians can cross.
This is not the same as running up on them and revving your engine and then blazing past them as soon as they get a millimeter past the end of your car.
This is not the same as speeding up and swerving around the people in the crosswalk.
Every time a driver on campus ignores proper driving behavior at crosswalks, he or she is putting others’ lives in danger.
As long as people are speeding through crosswalks and honking at pedestrians who happen to be in their way, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt, or worse, killed.
But, the problem cannot and will not be solved until everyone who drives a car on campus is aware of the rules concerning pedestrians versus cars and observes them.
It only takes a few seconds to stop and let someone cross the street safely.
It’s not worth risking someone else’s life to get to your destination a few seconds sooner.
Kari Ratliff

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