Henhouse808 t1_j6eulmv wrote on January 29, 2023 at 9:16 PM

It’s easy to say students are “too distracted.” The faculty, staff, and students can follow all the basic rules of being a good pedestrian and still get hurt or killed. A student dying in the middle of campus is egregious, but that’s only one of many accidents and deaths in the area from getting hit by cars.

My VCU office window faces West Franklin Street. I get to watch on a daily basis how insanely fast people fly down the roads on campus. I've seen a few close calls, and even had a coworker who was struck at Belvidere and West Franklin a few years ago.

Tons of people's commutes run straight through campus. Mine did when my partner worked downtown. I drove on West Main to get home. I always raised my attention to a 11/10 when nearby campus or driving in the Fan.

Add speed bumps. Flashing signs and lights. Traffic officers at intersections during rush hours. Someone mentioned in a previous thread that Charlottesville was a good example of a campus taking traffic and pedestrian interactions seriously. Hopefully VCU will talk to their fellow colleges and work with the city to make changes (rather than putting the effort on the city).

PhuncleSam t1_j6fz1zr wrote on January 30, 2023 at 1:35 AM

The speed bumps recently added to Harrison in Randolph have been great. Would love to see more around campus

DickThunder420 t1_j6fkqad wrote on January 29, 2023 at 11:56 PM

>" Tons of people's commutes run straight through campus" there is your problem, -VCU didn't think it through when they started building up the campus, all they saw were dollar signs.

CrassostreaVirginica OP t1_j6g1fx3 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 1:51 AM

Hot take, but pedestrians and cyclists should be able to be safe even (or especially) in cities.

FromTheIsle t1_j6hu3bi wrote on January 30, 2023 at 1:03 PM

This city used to be more dense than it is now. VCU isn't the problem. Forcing cars into cities and putting them on literally every road with little to no protected routes for pedestrians and bikes is a problem. There isn't too many people here, there's too many cars.

DickThunder420 t1_j6koc7r wrote on January 31, 2023 at 12:22 AM

Here's a student quote from a recent local news article; "You have to go at the same time, and when it's class change time and there's 200 people walking down the street, people get impatient," he said.
Sounds like too many people to me.
And another; “Some of the time, the cars be driving by too fast,"
Sounds like a lack of intelligence...this from a college student.
Also, it would not surprise me if both the driver and the ped were on their phones.
The driver has not been charged, fyi.