On Tuesday, Feb. 3 at approximately 7 p.m., two Amherst students, who asked not to be named as they recover, were hit by a vehicle while crossing at the intersection of Route 9 and Boltwood Avenue. One of the students suffered from whiplash. The other was hospitalized. A similar incident involving only one student, Daniel Tsang '06, occurred at the same intersection less than a year ago.

According to Dean of Students Ben Lieber, pedestrian safety on streets bordering the College is not a new concern among administrators. "I think we've been concerned ... for quite a while ... and that accounts for the decision a few years ago to install [extra] lights along Route 9," he said.

In the past few years, the College has contributed to funding several additional street lamps along Route 9, according to Lieber. "[The safety concern] has intensified in recent years because of the sheer level of traffic," he said.

To accommodate the additional traffic while promoting student safety, the College has plans to build a raised cross walk at the intersection of College Street and Boltwood Avenue. One such cross walk is already in place on Route 9 near Valentine Hall. The plans are not the result of any particular incident, but rather the general traffic patterns.

"Last year we were quite open [about the fact] that we were putting in a prototype in front of Valentine and planned to expand that program," said Director of Physical Plant Jim Brassord.

Tsang, who was hit by a car while crossing College Street on Boltwood Avenue on May 2, 2003, remarked that he might not have looked sufficiently prior to crossing the street. "I really don't remember, but I was hit by a car and I blacked out," he said. Tsang was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion.

In a report to Campus Police, one of the students involved in last week's accident explicitly noted that the students were hit after they stopped to look both ways and wait for a car coming from the left to stop.

President Anthony Marx explained that the prototype will serve a dual purpose. "The College has a plan, and has had plans, that had been approved and are about to be implemented, for creating a set [of] raised walkways on Route 9 that will, in effect, serve as speed bumps as well as pedestrian crosswalks so it will slow traffic down," he said. "Our facilities people working together with the town [of Amherst] believe that is the best solution to this [problem]."

Tsang noted that the College must take action to promote safety awareness both at the College and in the community. "I had thought that my accident was a one-off, but now that this other accident has happened, and in the exact same place ... I think that the school definitely needs to do more to help raise awareness and improve road safety in and around the campus," he said.