There were a variety of reasons why I, an incoming freshman, chose Pace University. The campus was well kept and the academics were strong. But most importantly, the people who I met each time I visited campus were always so nice and welcoming. I was nervous about so many of the changes I would be going through.  I would have never guessed that my biggest obstacle here, my first semester, would be those behind the wheel of their vehicles’.

In total, on any given day, I have at least four close encounters with a car. One day it was drivers running stop signs while I was clearly standing in the crosswalk, the next it’s the driver’s whipping around sharp turns where I am walking along.

I know I am not the only one who has had this happen to them. From my window in the front of North Hall, I witness and hear numerous screeches of tires and the engine revving from the cars disregarding the speed bumps.

The average 15mph speed limit should be more strictly adhered to considering the condition of campus.  The Pace University Pleasantville campus is now a construction zone. That being said, it is significantly more difficult for us pedestrians to walk safely and out of the way of those who think they are in Fast and Furious.

What is it that makes students drive irresponsibly? Maybe it is the fast pace college life they feel they need to catch up with or maybe they are just late to class. Whatever the case may be, students need to realize that accidents happen in big percentages on college campuses all over the country.

A poll conducted by 210 students at Suffolk Community College, Ammerman campus, in Selden New York, concluded that 63 percent of students have witnessed a vehicle accident of some sort and 36 percent of students were involved in one. The last thing we want is for Pace to have that statistic.

Speeding is something that we all do, sometimes on accident. However, when at school, save that for the open highways. It may feel annoying or inconvenient to wait for pedestrians to cross or to drive slower to be mindful of them, but please, those who drive, take into account how much more vulnerable they are without a two ton vehicle surrounding them.

All I ask is that those who have cars on campus think before they do something that could harm a fellow classmate or themselves. The costs of traffic violation tickets or a vehicular accident is guaranteed to cause you more stress than just watching and being respectful of those you share the campus roads with. Drive safely.