More than 600 vehicle collisions have occurred on roads surrounding the BYU campus over the last three years.
Data from the Utah Department of Transportation’s Crash Mapping website reveals that from Jan. 1, 2013 to April 30, 2016, over 400 of these collisions happened on University Avenue during the nearly mile-long stretch from 800 North and University Parkway.
The top four intersections with the most collisions around BYU during that span are located along University Avenue at University Parkway (67), Bulldog Boulevard (54), 960 North (46), 800 North (42). The intersection with the fifth-most accidents is 900 East and Heritage Drive (23).
University Police Lieutenant Steven Messick said there are likely more accidents at these intersections because they are among the most 'heavy traffic-bearing' intersections in Provo. An average of 70,000 cars travel on University Avenue between University Parkway and 800 North every day, according to UDOT traffic statistics.
'It's definitely busy, especially at the time when I get off of work, and also when I go to work it's pretty busy,' said Erika Weir, a BYU sophomore who crosses University Avenue every day.
Students are not surprised to find out that the intersections they frequently cross are among the most dangerous intersections around BYU. Freshman Michael Sandiego said he sometimes feels in danger trying to cross University Avenue every day at 960 North to travel between his apartment and the BYU campus.
'People probably just cross whenever they want to because it takes forever for the light to change,' Sandiego said. 'Whenever the light turns for me to walk, I just make sure that everyone is stopping because I don’t know if they are ready,'
BYU sophomore Joseph Fielding said he has witnessed quite a few accidents at 900 East and Heritage Drive as he walks to campus every day. He said driving through this intersection can be risky.
“It’s really annoying when you’re trying to turn left from 900 East to get onto Heritage Drive because you don’t have a protected green very often, so sometimes it does feel a little bit dangerous,' Fielding said.
University Police Lieutenant Arnold Lemmon said some common factors that frequently cause BYU students to get into car accidents include improper lookout, improper backing and failure to yield right of way. He said distracted driving is also becoming a huge problem.
'I would think that it wouldn’t just be BYU students, but I think a lot of the crashes have to do with inattentive driving, just looking the other way and not paying attention,' Messick said.
Students predict that many accidents would be prevented if both drivers and pedestrians were more patient in waiting for a light to safely cross at these intersections.
'The extra few seconds that you wait at the light could save your life,' Weir said. “You can either wait a few seconds and possibly be late to work or you can risk it and you could get hit by a car. It’s not worth the extra seconds.'
Weir said crossing the street as a pedestrian can be dangerous. She has noticed that there is often a temptation for pedestrians to cross the street without waiting for a walk signal. She said this is dangerous because pedestrians all too often forget about the cars that are still turning at these times.
Sandiego suggested that students look both ways, even before crossing at a walk signal.
'Make sure you push the button and you wait because if you don’t, you’re probably going to get hit,' Sandiego said.
Messick said he doesn't think that BYU intersections are dangerous, but feels that students should take driving more seriously and obey traffic rules.
'We want our students and others to be safe,' Messick said. 'A lot of our students travel long distance and we really want them to make it home and back to school safely.'