MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The excitement of a Mountaineer game day can only be marred by a handful of things off-the-field — things Sgt. Peggy Runyon said police from all agencies will be on the look-out for Saturday.
“We are trying to target the intersections where we have had problems so that we can have a presence there and try to get drivers to be very aware that we’re out and about,” she said. “Same as Morgantown city police — doing the same thing.”
Runyon, who works with the WVU Police Department, said a county-wide, multi-agency effort — supplemented by troopers from West Virginia State Police — are coming together following months of planning. For the first time in 294 days, they’ll be tasked with safely shepherding thousands of fans on foot and fans in vehicles into Morgantown.
They’ll be doing that with the help of additional funding from the Governor’s Highway Safety Program.
“That has made it possible for us to have officers out here doing extra patrols and writing traffic enforcement tickets and things,” Runyon said.
The task is made complicated by additional construction south of the Pennsylvania line on I-79 and ending at mile marker 155 and construction along Mon Boulevard.
“It is a huge task because we are overloaded,” Runyon said. “The roads have not caught up with the building of the infrastructure here in this city. We have a lot to deal with.”
21-year-old Leah Berhanu died as a result of injuries sustained in an auto-pedestrian accident in February, one of three such accidents in the area of Patteson Drive — a major thoroughfare for stadium-goers. Two other similar accidents on Mon Boulevard resulted in injuries to pedestrians.
Runyon said anyone walking towards Mountaineer Field this Saturday should be aware of their surroundings — even when having the right-of-way.
“We see, a lot of times through the day here and also on game day and different things, people just walking with their phones and looking at their phones with ear phones in or head phones on,” Runyon said. “They can’t hear the traffic, they’re not paying attention to the traffic, they’re not paying attention to the traffic, and they will sometimes walk through an intersection without even looking up, which causes cars to try stop immediately. Depending on the size of the car, it’s not that easy.”
Though a rarity, there are also those who aren’t in town for the game.
“We, unfortunately, always have some kind of medical emergency going to the hospital or something where someone’s in the hospital and they’ve taken a turn for the worse and people are trying to get to their family member or their friends in those kind of cases,” Runyon said.
She continued, “A lot of time people have flagged down the police and told them what was going on and we have escorted them through the traffic to try to get them to the hospital.”
WVU Police have released the following tips for drivers:
- Please stay alert for pedestrians at all times.
- Slow down during bad weather conditions.
- Be extra cautious at night-pedestrians can be hard to see.
- Always yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.
- Do not pass vehicles stopped in a cross walk.
- Never drive under the influence
- Obey all traffic lights and signals.
- Running a red light is never worth the risk.
- Reduce your speed for yellow traffic lights.
- Never text and drive.
- Don’t wear earbuds while driving.
And for pedestrians:
- Cross at marked crosswalks and intersections, and obey the signals.
- Always yield to vehicles and bicycles.
- Stay to the right and avoid walking in bike lanes.
- When there are no sidewalks, jog or walk facing traffic.
- Make eye contact with oncoming drivers and show your intention to cross.
- Don’t forget to look up from your phone.
- When walking at night, wear bright colors and stay in well-lit areas.
- Don’t Step into traffic from behind an obstruction.
- Turn down the volume on your phone.
- Head up, phone down; hang-up while walking.
- Don’t wear headphones or talk on the phone while crossing a street.
- Don’t walk and text.
- Never rely on a car to stop; expect it won’t.