A University of Iowa student was hit and killed by an S-U-V at a crosswalk two years ago. This week, campus police launched a pedestrian awareness campaign. U-of-I police officer Brad Allison has been handing out thousands of yellow instructional leaflets to stopped motorists and to people on foot. Allison says “We’re giving these to the pedestrians as well as to the drivers. What we’re trying to do with this is to help educate both aspects on what’s expected of the other.” He hopes his speech along with fliers on state law will reach as many students and drivers as possible. U-of-I junior Meagan Gugliano says navigating Iowa City’s streets can be a challenge when you have to get to class. Gugliano says “Sometimes you wait forever to cross the street, but then again, other times there’s so many people crossing cars can’t get through.” Pedestrians are supposed to have the right of way, even if they are in the middle of the road. This unidentified woman says just being right isn’t enough.”I always thought that the pedestrian did have the right of way, but then I thought what good is it to be right if they hit you and you’re dead?” U-of-I Junior Jin Wray admits she sometimes gets distracted and forgets the lessons she learned as a kindergartner, like looking both ways before crossing the street. Wray says “I just about walked in front of a car two minutes ago. I was just looking at something else and was like, ‘Oh yeah, I gotta stop.'” According to the fliers, if a person crosses the street and is not in a crosswalk, that person has to yield to cars but Officer Allison says drivers should yield to people in the street.
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