A pedestrian crosses High Street on West 18th Avenue Tuesday. Credit: Bailey Johnston | Lantern Reporter
At Ohio State, distracted motorists and pedestrians alike can make students’ routine walks across campus become a test of patience and awareness.
Cole Mamone, a fourth-year in biology, experienced this firsthand during a bike ride near Thompson Library, as he collided with a student who was distracted by her phone.
“She walked out of the normal flow of pedestrians on the sidewalk pretty last second, and since I had curbs on either side, I couldn’t swerve,” Mamone said. “I hit my brakes, but unfortunately still ran into her. She was on her phone and didn’t look either way before going into the street.”
To address concerns like these, the Ohio State University Police Division — also known as OSUPD — has shared some fundamental tips for pedestrians and motorists to help educate the campus community on traffic safety.
On campus
Despite Ohio State’s busy roadways, few traffic collisions actually occur on campus. According to OSUPD’s 2023 traffic collision report, 29 crashes were reported, with 20 resulting in minor injuries, five in possible injuries — where there are no obvious wounds or injuries, according to the Federal Highway Administration — and four in serious injuries.
“The statistics, I think, are impressive considering the amount of pedestrian traffic and cars trying to come in and out of campus every day,” OSUPD Lt. Bruce Allen said
Though Allen said the numbers show that pedestrian and vehicular traffic can “coexist” on campus, he also said these statistics do not include the “near misses” that many within the university community experience while on the road.
“You have those small, little interactions where a pedestrian kind of pops out in the crosswalk, and you don’t collide,” Allen said. “So, there’s no way to document that for statistics, but, anecdotally, I think we all kind of share that frustration sometimes.”
Pedestrian safety
Allen said a crucial step in avoiding these close calls as a pedestrian is to be aware of one’s surroundings, which means keeping one’s “head up” and away from one’s phone when crossing the street.
“Everybody has a cell phone that has so many interesting things on it,” Allen said. “It’s hard, you know, even for myself sometimes, to pull my head up and pay attention. But that’s always something that we’re trying to do.”
In addition to putting phones away, Allen said a great way to increase traffic awareness among pedestrians is to look both ways before crossing the street, make eye contact with oncoming motorists and wait until it’s safe to enter the crosswalk, such as when a walk signal is given.
“You have to allow motorists to have reasonable time to stop,” Allen said. “You can’t pop out. Sometimes just making eye contact with the motorists — like, when I’m a pedestrian and I’m crossing, I’m looking at them and making eye contact — so they say, ‘OK, he’s about to cross.’”
Though crosswalks are the safest intended way to cross roadways, university spokesperson Dan Hedman said he has seen students jaywalk because they do not take the time to find crosswalks. This puts pedestrians at risk, as many drivers don’t expect them to cross in undesignated areas.
“I see sometimes, if someone’s coming from the Oval or from a certain area, and they’re coming up to a [road] and there’s no crosswalk, they’re like, ‘Nah, I’ll just keep going.’” Hedman said. “So, it’s like, ‘Nope, you got to go find a crosswalk,’ because that’s the signal to cars that they need to look for you.”
Students jaywalking onto streets is especially an issue on High Street, as Hedman said that the area has a faster speed limit than roads on campus.
“When you’re crossing college roads, you have to contend with cars,” Hedman said. “But then you get to High Street, and you should even be more aware, almost, because that vehicular traffic is moving faster, and you’re not on a college campus anymore.”
OSUPD officers are empowered to stop pedestrians for traffic violations, though Allen said these stops are typically informal interactions aimed at educating students on road safety.
However, OSUPD officers can also issue formal warnings and citations if necessary.
“The goal is education,” Allen said. “So, our officers could stop somebody and issue a warning or a citation, but the goal for us is enforcement. And I will tell you too, a lot of times, there can be just real, informal interactions. I’ve done it myself, where if I’m in a uniform and in a car, I just pull up and just kind of tell someone out the window, ‘Hey, next time, can you wait for the crosswalk sign to light up?’ and usually that’s enough.”
Motorist safety — cars, bikes and scooters
Distractions for pedestrians are hazardous, but inattentive motorists can also pose a potential danger to Ohio State students.
Elijah Herlocher, a second-year in engineering physics, said he almost gets struck by vehicles on a regular basis while walking to his classes.
“Every day, I almost get hit by a scooter, skateboard, bike or something like that at least once,” Herlocher said.
Like pedestrians, Allen said phone usage is very distracting to motorists, and according to Section 4511.204 of the Ohio Revised Code, drivers are unable to use, hold or physically support an electronic wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle.
In addition to stopping phone usage, Allen said motorists need to follow traffic signals at intersections to avoid confusion for other drivers and pedestrians.
“Sometimes you’ll get a motorist who, they’re just trying to be helpful, but they’ll stop at a green light and they’ll wave the pedestrians on, and that almost kind of gets to be this awkward standstill,” Allen said. “Then folks think, ‘Maybe it’s okay to just cross when there’s no crossing sign on because other motorists wave you along.’”
Allen said following traffic signals and general traffic laws are essential for not just motorists, but all micromobility device users, such as those who ride bikes and scooters.
“If you’re on a micromobility device, commonly referred to as a scooter or a bicycle, you still have to follow all the traffic laws in the city of Columbus ordinances and the Ohio Revised Code traffic section,” Allen said. “I’ve seen people run red lights on a scooter, and it doesn’t give you a pass to just do whatever you want — you still have to follow the same rules as a motorist. So, I think getting that across to folks is going to help the situation.”
Allen said all bikes and scooters “should be operated in the roadway” to avoid accidents. Some collisions on campus have resulted from scooters driving on sidewalks, using crosswalks and driving too quickly across roads.
Individuals on scooters should not be using pedestrian crosswalks, Allen said.
“There’s really not a scenario where you should be doing that on a scooter, and we have had some instances of crashes because of that, and them not yielding at all,” Allen said. “Motorists just aren’t expecting that, you know, they’re looking for pedestrians who are walking slowly. And you can break in time, but you shouldn’t be zooming across a crosswalk on a scooter. That’s a very dangerous situation.”
Because micromobility devices are supposed to be used in roadways, Allen said students should learn arm signals to signal their forthcoming movements to other drivers.
“A little bit of communication goes a long way, so I would absolutely recommend, pertinent to bikes or scooters, to give that arm signal whether you’re going left or right,” Allen said.
Students can find information about these arm signals on the Transportation and Traffic Management — also known as TTM — website.
Ohio State is a campus full of heavy traffic for both pedestrians and motorists, and Allen said it is essential for students to follow traffic safety laws to ensure safe arrival to their destinations.
“I just want to let people know that I’m a scooter owner and operator, responsibly with a helmet, following all the traffic laws,” Allen said. “It’s portable, it’s green, it’s a great way to get around campus. So, I would encourage everyone to just follow all the traffic laws as if you were in a car and to be safe because we need everyone healthy, and graduating and going out into the world, making the world a better place.”
