When walking on the sidewalks of Monte Vista Ave and Christofferson, it is noticeable that there are people frequently jaywalking. It is not just the students that are doing so, but also faculty and staff members.
Both Monte Vista and Christofferson are major roadways with speed limits of 40 to 45 MPH. While there is a speed limit, speeding is another problem around Stanislaus State University, which has caused some heartbreaking incidents in the past.
“We want our students and employees to be safe,” said Cheri Silveira, University Police Department captain. “Having people running across on Monte Vista and Christofferson is incredibly dangerous and can cause traffic issues and create dangerous situations.”
The University Police Department does not get many individual jaywalking reports, as it usually happens faster than anyone can call. To minimize these incidents, The University Police Department would park their cars on the streets.
“Our presence is usually a good deterrent and if people see our vehicles, they don’t normally jaywalk,” explained Silveira.
But even with police cars on the streets, sometimes people still get caught for jaywalking and they pay for their reckless actions.
“I got caught up for jaywalking,” an anonymous student said. “I did not see the cop car that was parked on the other side of the street so by the time I got to the other side of the road, it was too late.”
To help the situation, the City of Turlock has also acted and installed signs on both Monte Vista and Christofferson regarding jaywalking.
Most common reason why students jaywalk are normally because they are late for class.
“I was late for class, and I had to jaywalk because I did not want to get marked up for not being on time,” said another anonymous Stan State student. “I would avoid jaywalking because cars speeds are fast around the campus”
Regardless of what kind of actions that the city or The University Police Department take, people will still jaywalk to save time. Here is some advice that Silveira gave to all the people:
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Do not stand in between parked cars when getting ready to cross a street.
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Stay alert and off the phone (we see so many people crossing streets with their heads down looking at a phone and not paying attention to traffic).
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If you must walk a little further to use a crosswalk, try not to have the mindset that it is “out of the way” or “a waste of time.” Think of it as “getting in more steps for your day.”
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Sometimes the safest path is not the quickest or easiest path.Keep safety in mind.
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Signs try to deter jaywalking. (Signal Photo/Azhar Akram)
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