Haluk Yapicioglu was released from a rehabilitation facility Wednesday and is doing well after being struck by a car two weeks ago, said Barbara Swanson of the College of Engineering.
Yapicioglu is a post doctoral fellow in the College of Engineering. He was struck by a car while crossing Magnolia Ave at approximately 8:23 p.m. Feb. 4.
Yapicioglu is the first victim of a pedestrian-vehicle accident in Auburn this year.
However, he is only one of between nine and 11 pedestrians who were hit by vehicles from 2009 until now.
These statistics have been a significant motivation behind the recent projects started by the city and University.
"Accident statistics play a large role in deciding which roadway projects get done," said Catherine Love, civil engineer in the facilities division of Auburn University. "Be it lighting or be it drainage, be it pavement markers or signage."
Two people hit by cars and critically injured in 2009 were Mary Hammett, an employee in the Ralph Brown Draughon Library, and Shou Ju Chen, a visiting scholar.
Hammett was life flighted by helicopter to Columbus Regional Medical Center after she was struck crossing South College Street Sept. 28, and Chen was life flighted from the Auburn-Opelika Robert G. Pitts Airport after being struck on Magnolia Avenue Nov. 6.
Both had been crossing those streets at night.
Nine traffic accident reports were provided regarding accidents in the past 13 months. However, additional documentation says there have been as many as 11 people hit by vehicles in the past 13 months.
Of the nine reports provided, all but one of the accidents occurred either in the later afternoon or night.
All but three of the pedestrians were hit on Magnolia Avenue.
Those three were struck on South College Street.
Accidents like these have played a part in motivating the University to repaint sidewalks and install more lighting along Magnolia Avenue.
Jeff Ramsey in the Auburn Public Works Department said the city has looked into building a crosswalk from the library to the Auburn University Hotel & Dixon Conference Center, but said the amount of lanes and the high speed of traffic makes it a bad idea.
"We felt like if we encouraged people to cross at that location we would really be setting someone up for a fatality," Ramsey said. "Once you get into speeds of 35, 45 miles an hour, you're really not going to survive a collision."
However, the city is still making changes in other parts of the city such as Magnolia Avenue. Temporary generator-powered lights have been added along the south side of Magnolia Avenue.
The lights will illuminate Magnolia Avenue until permanent lights are installed closer to July.
The lights will be installed along the south side of Magnolia Avenue rather than on both sides. Duggan said the lights are designed to illuminate the entire street from one side.
The city and University often work together to determine how projects like installing lights along Magnolia Avenue will be carried out.
"We front one side of it so we have an interest, in not only the way it looks, but also the safety because we realize that most people that use Magnolia are in some way affiliated with the University," said Catherine Love, civil engineer in the facilities division.
The aesthetics of the area surrounding the University play a "very" important part in how the University and the City of Auburn approach their joint projects, Love said. "People often make their decision whether to come to Auburn or not on the matter of first impression," Love said. "And their very first impression is not the inside of a classroom or the inside of a stadium, it's the outdoor experience. It's what they can see from the road generally."
City Manager Charlie Duggan agrees.
And Love and Duggan acknowledged that because Auburn's characteristic appearance is such a strong influence on why many students come to Auburn, maintaining aesthetics is a huge priority when the city and University consider construction projects. The University places such a strong emphasis on maintaining its aesthetics that a set of design guidelines was created within the last 10 years that require things such as buildings and light fixtures be designed a certain way, Love said.
However, Duggan and Love said that, as important as aesthetics are, the obligation to abide by them would not necessarily prevent a safety-related project from being carried out.
"We care a lot about having a very good-looking town," Duggan said. "So we don't want to compromise that to an extent where people find Auburn less appealing. But we also don't want to do it at the cost of making things less safe for people."
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