If there is one thing I’ve noticed since moving to Baton Rouge, it’s that cars are always hitting people here.
A car hit one of my roommates. A car hit one of my editors. Cars have hit a few of my friends. I’ve seen people get hit by cars. And I’ve nearly been annihilated on more than one occasion.
Prior to attending the University, I only knew one person to ever be run into by automobile, and it was his fault.
Now I’ve come to believe that Baton Rouge is a breeding ground for brutal automobile attacks.
Fortunately, aside from bruises and scrapes, all of the victims I’ve been close to made it away from the accidents relatively unscathed.
But there have been two hit-and-runs this semester that prove the area around the University has some problems to solve.
The first hit-and-run happened early in the morning of Oct. 9. The Daily Reveille reported University cheerleader Kip Carter was struck by a car while walking on River Road early in the morning.
Carter suffered injuries to his neck and vertebrae, a concussion and a hematoma. Fortunately, he was released from the hospital a few days later.
The other hit-and-run was just as serious, possibly worse.
One of my roommates called me around 2 a.m. on Oct. 13, telling me he witnessed a speeding truck hit a man and woman on East Boyd.
According to The Advocate, the woman was in critical condition and the man was in stable condition on Oct. 16.
Likewise, The Reveille also ran a letter to the editor last March that complained of another hit-and-run on East Boyd that left two people injured.
These acts prove a few things.
First, we desperately need more lighting and sidewalks in the areas students frequently traverse, especially the areas around bars.
East Boyd only has sidewalks in certain segments and can get dangerously dark.
I reported the Oct. 13 hit-and-run for The Reveille. One of my sources kept stressing that the incident may not have occurred had the victims been walking on a sidewalk or in a better lit area.
This calamity also affects the heavily populated areas behind Tigerland, particularly on Alvin Dark Avenue, which is barely lit and has broken sidewalks. Surprisingly, there seem to be fewer hit-and-runs there and more violent crime, but that’s a different story.
Baton Rouge really needs to get its stuff together to combat this problem. I know finding the funding can be hard to do, but students still need to be able to walk safely around the University.
But the lights and the roads aren’t the only thing that needs to change. We do.
Not all of us. But some of us should change our behavior.
I assume the perpetrators in these last two hit-and-runs had at least a little bit to drink before plowing their cars into people.
If they were sober, I believe they probably would have stopped and helped. Or at least called 911 before being cowards and speeding off into the night. But they didn’t. And I’m sure it’s because they know that society frowns upon drunk drivers.
I know this is too much to ask for, but can we start taking responsibility for these things we do? Can we not hurt the ones responsibly walking home by being stupid?
The man who hit Kip Carter never turned himself in. Mark Almon, the man responsible for the Oct. 13 incident, turned himself in the next day. Face your problems when you cause them. Don’t drive away from them.
I’m not saying this is everybody, but if we can start taking responsibility for these things we do, our streets may be safer.
Couple that with better lighting and sidewalks in heavily navigated areas, and I think Baton Rouge will see fewer hit-and-runs.
Until then, I’m staying off the streets.
 
Chris Grillot is a 20-year-old English and mass communication junior from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_cgrillot.
 
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Contact Chris Grillot at [email protected].