From Nancy Keller of Colorado Springs, Colo.
As an insecure and fairly fearful freshman, I stepped with caution onto the car-lined crosswalk as an illuminated walking man blinked onto the “go” sign. When the walking man suddenly changed to a blinking orange hand, the color of warning filled my being with terror as I flew across the street in a cold sweat. My equally petrified roommate and walking companion joined my mad flight across the street and gasped, “They’re going to hit us, hurry!”
She then muttered, “Those dang crosswalk signs should give us more time to get across the street.” We later discovered the blinking hand meant “hurry” rather than “Time’s up!”
Additionally, I have witnessed other clueless freshmen suffer from the blinking orange hand’s misleading message.
A car careening around a corner in an effort to beat the red light saw the two girls begin their trek across the street but must have seen the blinking orange hand and assumed they would stop according to its warning, but they, knowing it simply meant hurry, continued across the street and almost became BYU’s latest statistic.
I propose a simple suggestion: Change the illuminated walking man to running man. This will eliminate driver’s assumptions that pedestrians will stop at the blinking orange hand. Though small, the change will also prevent embarrassment to the already overwhelmed freshman mind.
And lastly, BYU’s image will improve with our campaign against freshman roadkill. Please consider this relatively easy improvement for our campus grounds.
