A commonplace sight for commuters is watching cars screech around narrow turns through the dark passages of the university’s parking garage.
“Definitely,” one student who asked for anonymity said. “I have heard other people say it more than I have experienced it, but I have definitely experienced it once or twice of people just speeding recklessly.”
The university’s large commuter population heavily utilizes the garage. Overcrowding makes traveling up and down its multiple levels difficult.
“People do drive really fast in there, and it’s hard to see when you’re coming around turns,” a junior who also asked for anonymity said. They use the parking garage multiple times a week. Fairmont State Police Lieutenant Marshall Arnett said some of the biggest problems the garage has are the end parking spaces. Only compact cars can use those spaces, and when normal vehicles park in those outer spots, it obstructs a driver’s view of the upcoming turn. He said the Fairmont State Police Department has reached out to the university about the problems with the parking garage. “We have reached out, so far, they have agreed with us but nothing has been done,” Arnett said. He shared his determination to keep students safe in the parking garage as well as across campus.
Narrowly escaping a reckless driver in the parking garage is a common occurrence amongst the student body. Commuters want positive changes made to improve the safety of a place that they enter every day. The Columns reached out to Fairmont State University but it did not respond by press time. Campus administration, while willing to work with the campus police department, does not appear to have taken notable action in recent months to address student concerns about parking garage safety. While Campus Police regularly patrol the building, they have no means of making systematic improvements to parking garage safety.
Students wait patiently for administrative action while suggesting the implementation of mirrors, pedestrian crosswalks, and speed bumps as simple solutions to the speeding problem inside the garage. Measures such as speed bumps and reserving end spaces for compact cars would be a helpful start in lowering the number of incidents. Fairmont State Campus Police hope that the administration will offer assistance toward the overall improvement of the parking garage in the months to come. The administration’s inaction is disappointing to students, faculty, and staff that use the parking garage.
