Walk at your own risk

It’s spring, and many students will be walking instead of taking the bus or car. I’ve always been amazed by how students and pedestrians move like cattle going to slaughter, slowly indifferent to vehicles that outweigh them 15 to 20 times. While by law and liability, vehicles are required to yield to peds in the crosswalk and other places, there are many reasons a careless driver might err and hit a lollygagging ped:— The driver may be incompetent or too old or too young to drive carefully.

— The driver may be distracted by the radio, CD player, smart phone (talking or texting), or other peds or cars. Distractions are many. I haven’t driven since 2010, so I don’t have to worry about these distractions as a driver.

—The driver may be drunk or on drugs. A few years back, a UI student was killed by a a marijauna-smoking driver. Two lives were destroyed.

—The driver may be speeding or otherwise out-of-control.

—The driver may have a mean moment and purposefully hit a ped. This has happened.

—The clincher: The driver may be eating a Big Mac.

There are many reasons being a ped is dangerous, so walk defensively. I almost always hurry and scurry across the crosswalk, as a polite gesture to superior speed and weight. Remember, scurry or bury.

— S.S. Anderson, UI English

class of 1999