When Safety Counts

Hello again, hopefully everyone is settled into their new housing arrangements and classes are going well. As many of you that are familiar with campus make your way around to classes this semester you’ve probably noticed quite a few changes that took place over the summer. Aside from new construction projects popping up all over campus, safety has been a primary focal point for Indiana University throughout the last year. With numerous traffic incidents involving pedestrians last year, including the tragic death of a student that made headlines throughout the region, IU has been hard at work identifying and addressing key safety concerns across campus to make traveling more safe and more intuitive in key, high-traffic areas.
While the past cannot be undone, Indiana University has taken huge steps to improve the amount of new signage and the quality of existing safety devices that are used to more clearly identify pedestrian traffic areas. This identification is paramount for alerting drivers to the possibility of pedestrians entering the roadway, while also encouraging pedestrians to seek out these locations because of their inherent safety features. Unfortunately, for drivers attempting to navigate campus during peak traffic hours, these new safety devices probably appear to make traffic situations worse than they were before. But as one may notice, especially in front of the Wells Library, drivers are forced to reduce their speed to a near stop simply to negotiate the sharp right jog that is used to reduce the speed at which drivers descend the hill and enter one of the busiest pedestrian areas on campus. These speed delimiting features associated with the three new, robust cross walk medians located on Fee Lane and 10th Street have so far yielded a promising outlook for a year without any pedestrian injuries. As with any new plan or idea, the human element must also be focused on and aware of how these devices are designed to work and how to correctly use them. To make these essential connections between the new safety interfaces and pedestrians on campus a program called “Get Street Smart” was created to promote safe, proactive behavior for all pedestrians on campus. Information on this program and other safety initiatives on campus can be found at http://www.indiana.edu/~getsmart/.

Aside from fixed safety devices, Indiana University is also committed to providing its students with an abundance of safety services across campus. Between the immense size of Indiana University’s campus, including all of its outlying recreational and specialty classroom facilities, students may at some point find themselves away from the normal, bustling atmosphere at the heart of campus. And while some classes extend into the darkening hours of the evening, who wouldn’t feel a little uneasy about walking alone, without some sense of security?! Luckily, this concern has already been identified for students that find themselves in these unpleasant situations.
With numerous safety programs for students, including classes on self-defense, safety seminars, extensive bus services, a safety escort service, emergency telephone towers and boxes located at every dorm and along walking paths, and a fully certified police department with officers patrolling campus night and day, students are never alone when traversing campus. Although a walking escort is reserved for females, all other services, except courses, are available to any IU student at no charge to them.
Obviously many more safety programs, devices and resources exist on IU’s flagship campus, both inside the residence halls and out on the sprawling streets and sidewalks that connect campus. And whether needed for a real emergency situation, or just as an immeasurable sense of security, students can rest assured that they are protected at Indiana University.