The newly installed raised crosswalks in Mercer Village still pose a danger to students despite being updated to elevate campus safety. These safety measures have not helped because problems still exist, if not more than before.
A little more than a month ago, the improved crosswalks were installed in Mercer Village as a way to slowtraffic in the area. Unfortunately, the problem still continues.
The main stretch of Mercer Village, also referred by students, faculty and employers as “the danger zone,” has seen a tremendous amount of reckless driving throughout the last six months. The highly congested area is also a hot spot for speeding and inattentive driving.
One motor vehicle law in the state of Georgia states that motorists are mandated to yield to pedestrians using a crosswalk. Students at Mercer have discussed their frustration with the confusion of not knowing the proper protocol of the crosswalk.
Junior Jordyn Stearns discussed her puzzling encounter with the crosswalk and a pedestrian.
“I almost accidentally hit someone the other day trying to cross the street,” Stearns said. “I came up to the crosswalk in my car and I waved at the pedestrian, but then the pedestrian waved back at me. I went to go but then they walked out at the same time. It was awkward and no one knew what was going on.”
Employers of Mercer Village have also seen an increase of hasty driving since the new speed bumps were installed.
Junior Lauren Light described some of the attention-grabbing driving incidents she witnessed while working at Jittery Joe’s.
“Working at Jittery Joe’s, you get to see all of the cars just completely fly over the speed bumps,” Light said. “A lot of them end up bottoming out and sparks fly everywhere.”
Light also discussed one occasion where the damage was so bad that Mercer Police had to arrive at the scene.
“One morning I came into work and there were three Mercer Police officers parked by Jittery Joe’s. I thought we had been robbed. Some lady had completely ruined her car on one of the speed bumps and it looked like her tires had also blown out.”
Students, faculty and employers are worried that the increase of reckless driving will continue to grow, especially because the area is becoming more congested.
Senior Kayleigh Irby voiced her concern by saying that she thinks the people going too fast through the area should given more blame.
“I think that the biggest help would be for students who drive through the area to realize the safety issue concerning pedestrians and drive accordingly,” Irby said. “I think Mercer has implemented safety devices but the school can only do so much. Drivers need to be aware that this will be a highly populated area, and safety starts with the driver first.”
Irby also stated that the number of safety devices wouldn’t make a difference unless reckless drivers took initiative.
“It doesn’t matter how many crosswalks or other related devices you put in if drivers aren’t careful; it’s not going to make a difference,” Irby said.
Mercer Police department encourages all students to slow down through the area in order to prevent accidents from occurring.
