I just sat down from looking out my Davis Hall window at another NIU student struck by a car while crossing Normal Road. When I came to this campus four years ago from California, I was shocked by the way pedestrians were treated.

In San Diego, when you step off the curb, cars usually do an amazing thing—they stop. In Illinois, they usually take aim.

I think it is time that we petition the DeKalb City Council to make the segment of Normal Road within the NIU campus a 15 mph pedestrian right-of-way zone. We then should explore ways to close the road permanently to traffic or find ways to separate pedestrians and cars like pedestrian overpasses.

Timothy Spangler

assistant professor

geography