Written by: Rebecca Straits (Rjs006@marietta.edu)
Imagine this: you’re crossing one of the many streets here in Marietta. It’s safe, right? The pedestrian signal turned on, so it’s safe for you to cross. Nope! Here comes a car barreling at you, just barely stopping before it hits you. That is unfortunately becoming a common occurrence here in the Marietta College community.
Just weeks ago, I was crossing the street when a vehicle came barreling toward me like I owed it money, but this is no laughing matter, and many students have expressed similar experiences.
One student, Ollie Carpenter, explained their experience at the intersection at North 7th Street, Greene Street, and the Ohio River Scenic Byway. Carpenter crosses this intersection to get to work and explained to me that they often have bad experiences with reckless drivers when they are trying to get to work, stating,
“The busy intersections are the worst, that’s where most of this stuff happens.”
There could be several reasons for this problem; one strong contender is that some of the crosswalk signs don’t even work. The crosswalk at the intersection of Butler Street and the Ohio River Scenic Byway was out of service just a few weeks ago. Though the traffic lights were changed to let drivers know to continue with caution, it didn’t entirely work.
I know this because when I was signaled to cross the street by a driver who was waiting for their turn, as soon as I stepped into the street another car took that as the perfect opportunity to turn at full speed and almost hit me.Thankfully, I moved out of the way in time, but not everyone has been so lucky.
In an anonymous survey by the Marcolian staff with 26 responses, that’s about the average size of class here at Marietta College, 65% stated that they had almost been hit by a car, 27% stating no, and 8% stating “other” and wrote that they had been hit by a car here in Marietta.
Many of the students I talked to would say that the driver is at fault during these scary
encounters, especially when the crosswalk is working, and students have waited for the
pedestrian symbol to turn before crossing the street. I want to be able to give drivers the benefit of the doubt, but when so many of my peers have experienced the same thing I have, and I see school teachers having to stand out in the road just to make sure no cars hit the little kids crossing the street, I can’t help but feel like they’re right.
Hours before finishing this story, I overheard two students who were discussing how they were almost hit by a car when crossing the street just moments prior. I didn’t even need to ask for an interview from them. That is how much of a problem this is. I can just sit outside and overhear that more of my peers were almost hit by cars.
We live in a very car-centric world, and in the United States alone, it’s very difficult not to be. As many people’s commute to work taking up to an hour or even longer depending on where you live.
That’s one of the reasons I like Marietta; it’s walkable. I don’t just walk to get from point A to point B, I walk because I like it! Marietta is beautiful to jog around, especially during the fall time. It’s almost perfect in that sense until you try to cross the street.
I’m not asking for anything drastic, just trying to raise awareness for a problem many of my peers and I have faced. So, if you drive and you see someone crossing the street, please slow down and don’t hit us with your cars.
Edited by: Zachary Worstell (zdw001@marietta.edu)
