Elise Nelson/Winonan
On a 98-degree day in August, Alexander Buss did everything wrong as he crossed the street on his bicycle.
He never stopped or glanced to either side when he reached the intersection of Johnson Street and Broadway. Instead, he darted into the busy street with his cell-phone glued to his ear.
Approaching in his car, Mark Underdahl switched lanes carelessly as he approached Johnson Street, not expecting a shaggy-headed college student to dart in front of his car.
The collision was slow and muted, as if it were affected by the thick August air. The tires of Underdahl’s silver car squealed quietly against the asphalt and there was only a quiet “thump” as Buss’ front bicycle tire recoiled from the front of the car.
Buss lay on his side in the street for mere seconds then rolled to a sitting position.
After talking for a few minutes in the middle of Broadway, Underdahl got back into his car and pulled over to the side of the road, and Buss dragged his mangled bike onto the sidewalk. As the two parties exchanged insurance information, the wailing of sirens drifted through the air.
For Don Walski, Winona State University director of security, drivers and pedestrians will continue to cause accidents around Winona State due to one major reason: inattentiveness.
“They just don’t pay attention,” Walski said as he leaned back in his chair and tented his hands on his chest.
Walski said he once did an unofficial survey watching pedestrians cross the street during a busy hour after classes let out. “I just kind of took an informal poll of how many students were actually texting or doing other stuff, and about 20 percent of the students were texting, talking on the phone, or doing something with their cellphone.”
This kind of inattention to their surroundings is what, according to Walski, causes a number of car-pedestrian accidents around campus.
This clear issue led Walski and Winona State safety administrator Erin Paulson to state one very clear rule of caution for pedestrians and drivers: awareness.
“Awareness and attention are necessary for drivers, as well as for pedestrians and bikers,” Paulson said. “Since you can’t ever be certain that someone else is going to be attentive, each one of us has to do it for our own good and for the good of others.”
What both Walski and Paulson see in their daily lives are situations just like the incident between Alexander Buss and Mark Underdahl. Many times the accident is simply a result of two inattentive individuals being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Some pedestrians just don’t pay attention,” Walski said woefully, shaking his head. “And some drivers don’t pay attention, and when you have that combination, someone’s gonna get hit. You can preach and preach and preach, but if they want to text, they’re going to text. And if they get hit, they get hit. That’s the unfortunate thing about it.”
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