2 weeks ago Rebbecca Blazzard ,aBYU student, was struck and killed by a car at the crosswalk at 1820 N. University Avenue. This particular crosswalk is known for it's ominousness to pedestrians.
Why has nothing been done? This situation is obviously not isolated and a handful of students yearly are involved with accidents which occur at this crosswalk. One student, Rachel Young, was involved with a hit and run accident here. "I broke my cheekbone and had a really bad concussion," Young said.
Unfortunately experiences like Young's did not open eyes enough and a death had to occur for this to actually be considered a major problem. Instead of now asking, "why has nothing been done?" we need to ask, "what should be done?"
The main solution that has been presented by the UDOT is to take the crosswalk completely out. Although this seems like it would solve the problem I say it will only cause more of a problem. Why? Students will still cross the street at this place whether there is a crosswalk or not. If the crosswalk was taken out students would just resort to J walking, which obviously is more dangerous. We as students have places we need to go and things we need to do. Living at Y-view (located directly west of the university crosswalk) I know that using this crosswalk saves time. Walking down to the light seems too much of a trouble and then once arriving at the light there is always a chance that you may have to wait. The majority of students see time as a priority and will do anything to save it even if it means J walking.
Taking the crosswalk completely out will not solve the problem and other option do need to be looked at and considered. We as students, the ones affected by this, do have a say in this. We need to speak up, doing so could say lives.