INDIANAPOLIS – Traffic is something most of us don’t like driving in and we certainly don’t like walking neat it, and this year several pedestrians have lost their lives in accidents.
"Just this year in August IMPD released a report saying that 21 pedestrians have been killed,” Kaitlyn Rines, a senior at Butler University who helped conduct the study, said. “Since then, just in October and November there have been at least eight more so it's a big problem and we were hoping to help."
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Those numbers are what prompted Butler to work with IPS and IMPD to survey around 900 IPS parents, students and teachers about traffic and their interactions while either walking, biking or driving.
"Of the students that are being picked up and dropped off not by buses, just by parental cars — they are not actually being dropped off at designated drop off spaces. They are being dropped off other places and they are walking the rest of the way,” Jason Davidson, Senior Lecturer at the Butler University Lacey School of Business, said. “So, they are fitting in to two different categories. When you get that type of transportation you now not only need to worry about your vehicle safety, you need to worry about your foot traffic safety.”
Jeff Palmer's daughter Lyra attends IPS 55, which is located along 54th Street a fairly busy road. He says traffic safety is something the school seems to take seriously, but it's also a topic of regular conversation in their family.
Because his daughter is still young, for now, they plan on driving her school. She used to take the bus but can't anymore because of protocol changes on behalf of IPS.
"With the change that IPS made saying you have to live farther away from school to take the bus, now we do have to deal with the car rider line,” Palmer said. “I do wish she still could take the bus because it was really convenient, easy and felt maybe even safer. "
There are several changes the study suggests IPS should make.
"We will make some recommendations on adding some extra flashers or things that could notify drivers that there is a school zone nearby, especially in schools that are closer to bigger intersections. You will also see a recommendation to add more physical barriers to schools," Davidson said.
However, those with Butler says awareness and teaching kids about traffic safety is the first step to making school zones safer.
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One thing the study didn't look into is how traffic patterns have changed due to the ongoing construction across the city.
The study also showed that more crossing guards and authority figures make kids feel safer when they are crossing busy intersections.
You can read the results of the survey below.
