Campus police asks students to obey road rules

By ERIN O'BRIEN

High enrollment, heavy foot traffic and student congestion at Fresno State have led to concerns with road traffic incidents between motorists and pedestrians, campus police said.

“When pedestrians and motorists co-mingle and both are multi-tasking,”campus police chief David Huerta said, “that combination can be lethal.”

Last month, Huerta said, an accident occurred near campus when a University High student was using a crosswalk on Barstow Avenue while using a cell phone, and a driver, also on a cell phone, hit the student, dragging her under the car and injuring her leg.

In another accident, a woman was hit by a vehicle in the crosswalk at the intersection of Maple and Keats avenues, campus police said. The woman was immediately taken to the hospital.

“As the campus grows, there is more vehicle versus pedestrian contacts and the pedestrian always loses,” Huerta said. “We value everyone on campus and we don’t want to see anyone hurt or killed.”

Huerta also said students who don’t use a crosswalk have become not only a safety issue, but also a legal issue.

“We don’t want to ticket students,” Huerta said. “It just causes more headache for them. But we need everyone to obey the law.

“Students, whether walking or driving, need to be looking, thinking and paying attention to what’s going on around them.”

Director of public safety David Moll agrees that Fresno State has a problem with students following the rules of the road.

“Each year we have a new group of students,” Moll said. “It’s important to inform students of the rules to keep them safe. We don’t want to harass them. Maybe what they learn here can be used later in life.”

Moll also said the law states the responsibility of road safety lies with both the driver and pedestrian.

According to the Department of Motor Vehicles section 21950, “the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. This section does not relieve a pedestrian from the duty of using due care for his or her safety.”

Due to a concern in student safety, Huerta said the Fresno State administration is currently seeking a seatbelt grant for next semester. This would mean that campus police would have the ability to ticket students not properly wearing seatbelts. And a driver could receive a ticket if a passenger is not obeying the seatbelt law.

Huerta also said there are plans to install a stoplight on Barstow Avenue to help alleviate heavy traffic, and a bike lane down Cedar Avenue to allow bicyclists a safe mode of travel.

“All we are asking for is common sense on the road,” Huerta said. “Everyone knows that pedestrians have the right-of-way. But that pedestrian may be dead wrong.”