CINCINNATI — University of Cincinnati students participated in a pedestrian safety rally on campus alongside community leaders and pedestrian safety advocates. They said after two fatal pedestrian crashes that happened a few months apart, they wanted to take action.
A driver in a stolen vehicle hit two UC students near campus in September, killing Cayden Turner. Then, last month, a driver hit and killed Patrick Bolten near a different part of campus.
Student Aaron Tan said he's had close calls with cars when walking home from campus.
"It just snowed, so it was pretty dark out. I was crossing, it was a right on red and the driver didn't see me, slammed on the brakes and kind of slid a little bit, luckily I didn't get hit," he said.
Some UC students and nearby community members want more done to prevent these close calls and crashes.
The Devou Good Foundation has been working for years to advocate for pedestrian safety improvements.
"UC and the city have acknowledged that there's a problem," said Matt Butler, Devou Good Foundation president. "They've sent the police there to do some extra patrols and they've put up some signage."
He said now it's time for more permanent action.
Cincinnati City Council member Mark Jeffreys agrees that it's needed. He said some plans are in the works including a traffic study to determine the best pedestrian safety measures to put in place.
"We'll be looking at things like speed limits, a lot of the tools that we have in the toolbox around pedestrian safety, speed humps, curb extensions and the like," he said.
Jeffreys said in the meantime, enforcement can make a difference. WCPO has reached to UC Police about current enforcement efforts but has not heard back.
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