By AMANDA MEADE

Scene/Mix Editor

Drivers on the road today run stop signs, disregard stoplights and cut off other drivers more than ever, and it’s getting to be a real problem.

According to michigantrafficcrashfacts.org, 324,174 crashes occurred in Michigan in 2007, that’s one every 97 seconds. One person was killed in a crash every eight hours and five minutes.

One pedestrian was injured every four hours and 21 minutes. Imagine this ­­— for every four hour class that you attend each week, another fellow student is injured by a vehicle.

On a daily basis in the parking lots of Oakland University, students have to deal with the “squatters,” “stalkers” and parking spot “stealers.” On an overly crowded commuter campus, these are the kind of things we’re forced to tolerate.

I was recently walking to the Oakland Center and as I began to walk across the white painted lines in the road (you know, the ones that usually mean to yield for pedestrians, but apparently it’s only when the driver feels like it) I was viciously cut off by a fellow student. To make things worse, the driver thought it was the funniest thing she had seen in her life.

As for OU’s maintenance crew, I acknowledge our snow-free parking lots and sidewalks.

Yet, it seems to never fail — every time I turn a corner in a parking lot, a large OU truck with a plow on the front is inches away from hitting my car because the driver was going far too fast.

Yes, parking what seems like five miles away from your destination probably isn’t the most attractive idea. But, I have a feeling that for a large percentage of us on campus, it wouldn’t kill us to walk a little further to our classes. Instead of potentially injuring someone else over a parking spot, get a little exercise.

If you have the time to sit and wait in your car for a spot to open up, then you surely have enough time to find a different spot, even if it is further away.

The five extra seconds you will lose from your extremely busy lives by stopping at a crosswalk could save you money, time and unneeded grief. And the 10 minute walk from a further parking spot to your destination would make for a less stressful time.