VCU’s pedestrian safety campaign one year later
VCU Police has been working to improve pedestrian safety for the past year, but some students said city roads are naturally unsafe. Photo by Arrick Wilson.
Harshini Kanala, Contributing Writer
Following the deaths of two VCU students in traffic accidents in the past two years, the VCU police department responded with a campaign to promote pedestrian, cyclist and driver safety in 2023.
The campaign works to achieve these goals by deploying more officers in assumed high-risk areas and tightening rules regarding parking, speeding and running lights, according to the VCU Police Department in an email sent to the Commonwealth Times.
The police department strived to come up with “creative solutions” to appeal to students and has highlighted certain safety protocols for different types of vehicles, pedestrians and traffic that inhibit the Richmond city roads, according to VCU News.
The initiative continues to be a priority this school year as VCU Police aim to maintain good and constant communication with pedestrians and road traffic alike and try to educate the public, as stated by the department in an email sent to the Commonwealth Times.
The department issued 1,076 traffic citations and 1,576 parking tickets in 2023. This year the statistics are much higher with 335 citations and 605 parking tickets between January and March, as stated by VCU Police.
While VCUPD claims this initiative has been one of their biggest priorities so far, some students interviewed said they believe it normal for city roads to be unsafe and don’t necessarily take issue with its “dangers.”
Matthew Smith, a first-year art student, said downtown being unsafe is expected.
“I know how to navigate the roads and it seems to be worse in other cities,” Smith said.
Tommy Smith, a first-year photography student, said “It’s just how downtown is, there isn’t anything practical that could really be done in my opinion, unless we’re talking about making major infrastructural changes.”
Rhand Abdelhalim, a first-year art student, feels the experience is “okay” and most people are “sane drivers.”
“I don’t observe any actions being taken with student safety — if you have architecture that is fostered towards pedestrians, then it’s expected that the city should be more walkable and catered towards pedestrians rather than vehicles,” Abdelhalim said.
Avani Abhyankar, a first-year chemistry student at VCU said, “What drivers need is empathy, one must understand that some parts of Richmond are a college campus before they are city roads.”
