On Oct. 3, a Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) staff member was struck by a vehicle as they were walking on a pedestrian crosswalk near College Hall. Our previous editorial’s goal was to encourage our readers to push officials to add an additional crosswalk on campus, to promote our safety. Students’ safety should be the top priority, and while efforts have been made to ensure this, we can’t ignore this incident, as it could have easily been prevented. Changes to our crosswalks and streets must be made to ensure student safety, so that this incident will not be repeated in the future. Unfortunately, even with a crosswalk our campus is not safe for pedestrians. This is because drivers ignore speed limit signs. Our university fails to utilize the usage of speed limit signs throughout campus streets. The university can ensure pedestrian safety by having officers with radars, park around campus and detect the speed limit of passing vehicles. Another approach is to incorporate more speed bumps throughout West Santa Gertrudis Avenue.A more efficient way to improve safety for students on campus could include students being aware of their surroundings and proceeding with caution when they are at a crosswalk. Unfortunately, some drivers do not abide by the road laws on a university campus which lead to fatal incidents like being hit by a car. The university police could help improve safety for students by also patrolling the streets and crosswalks when it is a passing period between classes. There is a large influx of student and vehicle activity within these times which makes it the most dangerous.Placing pedestrian walking lights throughout campus should be considered by the university to ensure the safety of its students, faculty and staff. Along with this, adding speed bumps to essentially force drivers to slow down is another good way of preventing further incidents on campus. This issue is not to be taken lightly and the university must take immediate action in ensuring the safety of students, faculty and staff who use the crosswalks on campus.
