Two bicycle accidents in less than a month should reinforce the idea that motorists and pedestrians on Grand Valley State University’s Allendale Campus need to take responsibility and exercise good judgement to reduce the frequency of accidents on campus.

It’s one of the most basic of rules that people learn in Kindergarten — before you go to cross the street, stop, look and listen.

But the “Stop for Pedestrians” signs at almost every crosswalk on the Allendale Campus seems to make several pedestrians feel that this rule does not apply to them. Knowing that oncoming traffic is supposed to stop for them, pedestrians often walk blindly into the crosswalk, usually while texting on their cell phones, without taking note of vehicle traffic going either way, creating a dangerous situation for both the pedestrian and the driver.

But that’s not to say that drivers aren’t at fault either. Whether or not a pedestrian chooses to exercise his or her basic school knowledge in looking both ways, vehicles are supposed to stop at each crosswalk to allow them to pass. When motorists speed down Campus Drive or Laker Village Drive without taking note of students hurrying to class in the morning, it also creates a dangerous situation for those involved.

The signs were not put up at the crosswalks as part of GVSU’s idea to better serve its students in affording them a chance to get to class on time — they are backed up by actual law. According to the Uniform Traffic Code, chapter seven section 28.1702, “When traffic-control signals are not in place or are not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on the half of the roadway of which the vehicle is traveling or when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be a danger.” While driving operating a motor vehicle, especially along Campus Drive or Laker Village Drive, it is important to remember this rule regardless of what signs are present.

But pedestrians should be mindful of the law as well. Under the same section of the Uniform Traffic Code, it reads, “A pedestrian shall not suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into a path of a vehicle that is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield.” Translation: don’t walk blindly into a crosswalk without making sure a car isn’t going to hit you.

Bicyclists are guilty of this as well, and they are governed by the same set of rules. Under the Michigan Vehicle Code section 257.660c, “An individual lawfully operating a bicycle upon a sidewalk or a pedestrian crosswalk has all of the rights and responsibilities applicable to a pedestrian using that sidewalk or crosswalk.” And being as a bike travels much faster than a person on foot, it is especially important to ensure your safety when moving into a crosswalk.

The signs are there to advise motorists of the law, not to afford pedestrians the opportunity to cast aside their primary teachings. If Kindergartners can do it, then why can’t college students?