According to Sergeant Nicole Thompson of the Oakland University Police Department, there were less traffic accidents on campus during this fall semester than last year.

“Last year from Sept. 1, 2010 to Nov. 19, 2010 we took 83 accident reports including parking lot accidents and this year from Sept. 1, 2011 to Nov. 19, 2011 we took 68 accident reports, including parking lot accidents,” Thompson said.

Nevertheless, while instances of accidents involving OU students on campus have declined, the impact of these accidents has become more severe overall.

Most of the on campus accidents involved vehicles hitting pedestrians, Thompson said. At least two of these accidents resulted in pedestrian injuries.

Many OU students were surprised to hear this.

“People need to know how to drive and be aware of people who do not drive,” Dante Davis, an OU psychology and sociology major, said. “No one wakes up and says, ‘I’m going to be in an accident today.’”

Mintu Thomas, an OU senior accounting major, however, finds it difficult to drive on campus at night when pedestrians wear dark clothing and just “jump in front of cars.”

“I can’t see them in the dark,” Thomas said.

Off campus, car accidents resulting in the death or injury of OU students made headlines.

Jenna Balabach and Rachel Ring were killed in a car accident on Oct. 22.

There was also a car accident at the intersection of Hall and Hayes roads occurred on Nov. 18. One OU student, a freshman and member of a campus sorority, sustained minor injuries and was admitted to Henry Ford Hospital in Clinton Township after the accident.

Some OU students recognize a difference between knowing what do to on the road, and actually applying that knowledge while driving.

“Behind the wheel, you don’t remember what’s on paper; it’s different,” Sinta Kenney, an OU graduate student and accounting major, said.

Cooper Nicholas, an OU freshman cinema studies major, thinks he has the answer.

“Be aware of everything,” he said. “Driving is tricky.”