U of Delaware Considers Mandatory Safety Classes for Jaywalkers

The University of Delaware announced this week that they are exploring a policy that would require mandatory safety classes for students that are caught jaywalking on campus.

The University of Delaware, which is located in Newark, Delaware, is trying to solve a problem that is apparently plaguing its campus. Most would assume that the university would attempt to curb binge drinking or censorship. Instead, officials at the University of Delaware they are working to reduce jaywalking.

According to a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the University of Delaware is exploring a policy that would punish jaywalkers with a mandatory safety course.

Although the Newark Police Department has not been asked to partner with the university on the jaywalking education program, Sgt. Gerald Bryda is open to its implementation. “If it’s something that we can prevent through education and enforcement, then that’s what we’re here to do,” he said.

Students are unconvinced that the safety classes will have any impact on the amount of jaywalking on campus. “No one is going to take it seriously,” said Daniel Worthington, a senior at the university. Other students have called the program “a little extreme.”

One student, a sophomore, who was forced to pay an $85 fine after jaywalking, had another impression of the new policies. “I think they’re overdoing it” with the safety classes, he said. But he claims that he hasn’t “jaywalked since” he was forced to pay his fine.

For reference, Philadelphia only offered nine tickets last year for jaywalking. Los Angeles, on the other hand, issues 31,000 citations to jaywalkers in the most recent year that the data was available.