The SGA Senate passed an act on Dec. 5 to allocate $4,300 to a program called “Look Up Legends” that will install signs with school mottos to alert pedestrians to traffic.
Funding for the act came from SGA, UAPD and Chris D’Esposito, the University’s executive director of transportation services. Twenty-eight A-frame signs will be placed around campus, with mottos such as “Look Up, Legends!”, “Heads up Alabama” and “Where Legends Are Safe.”
The signs will be placed around several locations such as Hewson Hall, Gordon Palmer Hall, the Math & Science Building and the Student Center Plaza, as determined by members of SGA and Shane Dorrill, director of public safety communications.
Dorrill previously told The Crimson White that the reason behind the majority of accidents were distractions, referencing both distracted drivers and pedestrians, but the act specifically puts the blame on distracted pedestrians.
“Multiple students have been injured in accidents while crossing campus crosswalks, mainly due to distractions such as phone use, headphones, and other factors that impair their attention to their surroundings,” said the act in its findings section.
Author Hailey Adams, a senator for the College of Communication and Information Sciences, supported this finding by citing the 13 pedestrian accidents on campus this year, claiming the majority were caused by distracted pedestrians, though she said she did not know the specific number of cases for privacy reasons, as she was given this information by Dorrill.
When asked whether the majority of these 13 accidents were due to distracted pedestrians, Dorrill said “Due to Alabama law, it is not always possible for police to assign responsibility for an automobile accident. This is especially true in accidents involving pedestrians, bicycles and scooters. I can tell you that in most of the vehicle versus pedestrian accidents that UAPD has investigated this year, the pedestrians were distracted.”
Several larger-scale studies indicate that factors besides pedestrian distraction, such as speeding or distracted driving, pose greater risks of accidents. A study by Rutgers University found distracted pedestrians are only the cause for roughly 5-10% of total crashes.
“We have lots of placements for people who are driving cars,” Adams said. “We have the flashing signs, we have stop signs, we have stop lights. When you’re having to look at it from a bigger perspective, instead of just blaming the driver, sometimes it can be the pedestrian.”
The Senate also discussed a resolution to create an alumni network called Crimson Connections. The platform would either be on MyBama or the Career Center websites, according to author Michael Dobbs, a senator for the College of Business.
Dobbs hopes the resolution will connect the University’s over 200,000 alumni to help students get their foot in the door. He cited Forbes and said nearly 70% of jobs are never listed on public job search, but rather are filled through networking and whom employers know.
“I think this is only benefiting students, by leading them into better internships that are specific to their career path,” Dobbs said.
At the Senate’s next meeting, there will be a reallocation of seats as part of the newly passed Act A-19-24. In the act, the Capstone College of Nursing lost one seat, now having two senators, and the College of Human Environmental Sciences gained one seat, now having four senators.
“This is an act that is written every year prior to the Spring SGA election period.” John Michael Chandash, the bill’s author and a senator for the College of Arts and Sciences, said in an email. “The popularity of different college majors is constantly fluctuating, and it is important that we respond to not only those changes, but those students and their needs as well through accurately representing them.”
