Whether you’re driving, biking, skateboarding, scooting or walking around campus, it’s important to know the rules of the road.
Staying aware of your surroundings is the responsibility of both drivers and pedestrians. Avoid distractions like cell phones and remove headphones or ear buds so you can hear what’s going on around you.
Drivers must follow posted speed limits and yield to pedestrians — even at green lights. Likewise, pedestrians should follow traffic rules, use crosswalks and look both ways before crossing streets, even when they have the right of way.
Keeping UCF’s roads safe is a collective effort, which is why new pedestrian safety enhancements have been added on and off the university’s main campus.
Pedestrian Safety Improvements
In the past few years, UCF has made improvements around its main campus by restriping crosswalks for better visibility and adding rumble strips before crosswalks that aren’t at a traffic light. Rumble strips are designed to provide an audible and vibration warning to alert drivers to slow down.
Flashing lights have been installed at some of the busier crosswalks around campus, along with signage reminding drivers that state law requires them to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.
Off campus, Orange County made significant pedestrian safety upgrades along Alafaya Trail and University Boulevard, including new mid-block crosswalk signals at Solon Drive on Alafaya Trail and Turbine Drive on University Boulevard. The crossings make it more convenient for pedestrians to get to UCF, nearby restaurants and retail. They feature textured, colored pavement, pedestrian-activated stop lights and road markings that remind drivers to watch for pedestrians.
New fencing and landscaping will help direct pedestrians to the crosswalks, and sidewalks have been widened to eight or 10 feet. Additional signage, lighting and landscaping were also added.
Additionally, major intersections in the area were also updated with high-visibility crosswalks and redesigned with smaller turning radii that force vehicles to slow down.
UCFPD’s Commitment to Pedestrian Safety
The UCF Police Department (UCFPD) regularly conducts pedestrian safety details, where plain-clothed employees use crosswalks throughout campus while officers assess drivers’ responses.
While the main goal of these details is education, drivers who fail to yield may be stopped and issued a verbal warning or a citation at the officer’s discretion. Pedestrians crossing illegally may also be stopped.
Ahead of these details, UCFPD shares information about these efforts on social media and message boards around campus.
