On Oct 7th, I was curling my hair in my apartment, having come out of the newsroom earlier than usual. The night seemed cool and calm. This was, until I heard a small thud outside of my apartment. As soon as I was about to brush off my worry, I opened my phone to a group message reading the last words I thought I would at that hour:
“I think someone just died outside of the Evans Scholar House.”
Thankfully, this wasn’t the case, as an ambulance had quickly transported the driver to a hospital to receive care.
The police chase that caused the crash in the first place originated in the Southside of Milwaukee. It ended in students’ cars being scratched by debris and a seemingly restless night for those that witnessed the accident. The driver’s vehicle was totaled. There was not a single thing that could be done to undo the fear that the event struck in the people that witnessed it. Many even expressed gratitude that this accident happened at night, as the car slid on a sidewalk many use every day.
College campuses are some of the many places nationwide where people tend to commute on foot. Some argue that this contributes to the feelings of community and happiness that many characterize as inextricable from the college experience. Most colleges try to make it so you can reach your classes, your clubs, your friends and any other necessities you might have with as much ease as possible.
However, this ideal vision can be shattered for many as quickly as it came. No matter how careful a student is, the presence of one reckless or intoxicated driver is all it takes to irreversibly twist their lives for the worse or end it completely. As such, Marquette University should take the initiative to try and protect their students and ensure their physical and emotional safety on campus.
This crash did not end in any major injuries or fatalities, but recent accidents on Marquette campus have. This summer, R’eay Reign, a 29-year-old woman who was driving down 11th and Wisconsin, was crashed into by a drunk valet worker who stole a client’s car. She died after being ejected from the driver’s side window.
This incident is extreme, but it illustrates the kind of driving that students cannot protect themselves from. Although it is a college campus, Marquette University occupies space within the biggest city in Wisconsin. Milwaukee saw 10.97 fatal auto accidents per 100,000 persons on average between 2017 and 2021.
During the same time period, the city also witnessed an average of 3.02 fatal accidents involving intoxicated drivers. This is close to the average for the state, but it still illustrates how much of a risk it can be in places like college campuses that do not follow the standard layout for modern American urban infrastructure.
More recently, Milwaukee made the Forbes Advisor list for the Cities with the Worst Drivers, ranking 19 despite its population making it the 32nd largest city in the country. Car crashes are an unfortunate reality in most parts of the country, but their impact can be mediated by institutions that care about the livelihoods of their community members.
The City of Milwaukee is already successfully working on mediating the impacts of car crashes in the city. One of these projects reducing speeding by 24%. Now a part of the Vision Zero Network, Milwaukee is adopting a new mindset in order to prevent the tragedy that is a fatal car accident.
The Vision Zero Network started in Sweden in the 90s, now fostering the goal of stopping traffic accidents worldwide. This innovative approach integrates human failing within its structure, recognizing that people are not perfect but that that doesn’t mean they deserve to die.
There are several safety measures that public officials abiding by the Vision Zero recommendations have implemented in Milwaukee that can be replicated on Marquette campus: more bump outs, bollards and speed bumps.
Bump outs are areas where the sidewalk stretches out further into the street, guaranteeing more space for people to walk on and slowing down drivers that might have otherwise crashed straight into pedestrians.
Bollards have been placed around Milwaukee as well, these poles helping protect pedestrians from traffic
Speed bumps are an arguably more effective way to control slow down drivers, and they have already been used to calm down traffic in other parts of the city. While speed bumps are extremely effective at slowing down cars, many drivers with older, lower cars, believe speed bumps require them to slow down too much or risk damage to their vehicle.
However, speed bumps are just a minor annoyance. It might take longer to get to work, but a few minutes wasted are less valuable than an entire person’s life.
