Two weeks ago, many students gathered out near the Chapel, at the corner of North Elm Street and Curtis Avenue, where a red sedan had driven onto the sidewalk before crashing through the granite and wood fence posts and flipping through the air. The car landed upright, injuring the two people in the car. The driver and passenger were transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital, and the driver was charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol. Luckily, no one else was hurt. No Choate students or teachers were on the sidewalk at the time of the accident.
The week before that, another crash took place on campus, albeit more minor. A car rear-ended another on Christian Street in between the crosswalks connecting the Humanities building and the Library. No students or faculty were hurt in that crash, either.
These accidents have shed new light on the safety of Choate’s sidewalks and crosswalks in regards to vehicular traffic. And yet, over the past year, the Choate administration has worked closely with the town of Wallingford to ensure that whenever community members walk across or along city streets they’re as safe as possible.
Wallingford restricts what structural changes Choate can make. Mr. James Stanley, Dean of Students, said, “We’re not allowed to create new crosswalks or install other traffic control measures. Those are all things controlled by the town.”
Still, the town has been more than willing to help with the matter. A few years ago, the town agreed to install the “Stop for Pedestrian Traffic” signs with the town, and officials added a reflective strip to the “Pedestrian Crossing” signs to make them more visible. At the beginning of this year, the streetlamps around campus had their bulbs replaced to make visibility better for not only cars, but for pedestrians as well. “The town’s doing a lot to try to make the crosswalks more visible,” said Mr. Stanley.
The School has stressed to the students to be aware of their surroundings as they cross the street, wherever they may be on campus. “We do emphasize with students, ‘Stop, make eye contact, make sure the driver sees you, don’t go through the crosswalk on your phones,” said Mr. Stanley, “There is a significant responsibility on us as pedestrians to be aware of our surroundings.”
Choate Community Safety has proved invaluable for traffic safety here on campus. Working as crossing guards, they have helped monitor traffic during hours when many students are passing through, like in the morning before classes start. “When there are buses that go from Rock Hill school, which is to the east of us, to Moses Y school, which is just to the west, and when we have students crossing the road, and there’s a line of twelve buses, it’s difficult and challenging for everybody,” said Mr. Stanley.
Many students are grateful for Community Safety’s presence. Angela Zhao ’19 said, “I think they’re really necessary because, usually when they’re not there, kids keep on going in all directions, and I feel like that is very dangerous and a potential risk because drivers will get fed up.”
The school has also been in contact with the Wallingford Police Department to make sure that everything runs smoothly and risks are minimized. Director of Risk Management Ms. Risa Vine said, “The Wallingford Police Department is extremely responsive and easy to work with.” The School has an online mechanism to report any incident that takes place between students and drivers, and, according to Ms. Vine, the School has received about two reports a week this year.
The School recommends that students, should they ever find themselves involved in such an incident, try to get the license plate of the car or remember whatever information possible about the car. Mr. Stanley commented, “When kids do share that information of somebody being a reckless driver or an obnoxious driver and we get the description, we can get that to the police and they follow up.”
When asked if the School could do anything that it isn’t already doing, Ms. Vine said, “The School administration is always considering options to keep our community safe. When we have a plausible idea, we have the type of relationship with the Wallingford Police Department that we reach out to them to discuss its merits.”
