The first week of classes can cause some major headaches.
So can being run over while walking to class.
Twice this week a pedestrian has been hit while walking on Ball State University's campus: one by a car, another by a bicycle.
The hustle and bustle has picked up once again from our ghost town of a university during the summer. At the rate we're going, it's a matter of time before a pedestrian is pancaked on McKinley Avenue.
So who's to blame?
The idea of avoiding traffic is about as elementary as, well, elementary school, when we were all taught the value of looking both ways before crossing. We may still be in school, but crossing guards shouldn't be a necessity for us big kids.
Yes, it might be difficult to imagine walking to class without having your iPod blasting in both ears while you are squinting through your dark sunglasses as you text your "bff," but purring engines and blaring car horns are only so loud.
And for those behind the wheel, whipping down McKinley might seem like a fun obstacle course to negotiate, but there's a difference between orange cones and people. Last fall, then-Muncie police officer Jason Lyons showed us what happens when someone drives along a curve on McKinley like a character from "The Fast and the Furious." You might take notice of the new light pole near LaFollette in response to that accident.
Jay-walking might be obnoxious to motorists, but, like it or not, pedestrians always have the right-of-way. We all learned that when we took driver's ed in high school, and unless Ball State wants to start walker's ed (excluding the class fitness walking), we all better practice what we learned about yielding to those who are not encased in metal.
For the two accidents so far this fall, they were just that - accidents. It would be unfair to blame anyone for the accidents because everyone was responsible.
Motorists need to keep their eyes up and their speed down.
And for pedestrians, walking to class shouldn't be like playing a real-life version of "Frogger." If you get squashed, you can't hit a reset button.
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