the Cypress Lake Wire

By Connor Bergeron

Reckless driving is becoming an increasingly visible danger across Lafayette, endangering drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike. The problem came into sharper focus this September when a viral video showed a University of Louisiana at Lafayette Kiwibot, one of the campus’ beloved delivery robots, destroyed in a collision with a university maintenance vehicle.

“It was kind of funny to see, not gonna lie,” admitted Jayke Fullerton, a fourth-year engineering student at UL Lafayette. “At the same time, you’re thinking in the back of your head, like, that could’ve easily been a student or someone else trying to cross.”

Fullerton’s reaction echoes a growing concern among pedestrians and cyclists who say that the streets of Lafayette, and especially streets around campus, feel unsafe. Many have turned to online platforms to voice their frustrations.

“Lafayette is so hostile to pedestrians and bicyclists,” wrote Reddit user u/Dismal-Cheetah-6059. “It’s crazy how unsafe even the edges of the UL campus (the most pedestrian-dense area of Lafayette) is for pedestrians.”

That frustration is backed up by data. According to the Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation Safety (CARTS), Lafayette has already seen more than 7,500 vehicle crashes this year, with over 20 resulting in deaths. Most victims were drivers, but pedestrians and cyclists were among them. If the pace continues, 2025 could mark one of the city’s deadliest years on the road in the past decade. And the problem isn’t confined to the city’s busiest intersections. Even within UL Lafayette’s campus, the danger is never far away, especially on roads with a high level of foot traffic such as Rex Street, St. Mary Boulevard, and McKinley Street.

Bryant O. Hammett, UL Lafayette’s transit operations manager, points to distracted driving, particularly cell phone use, as a major factor behind many of these crashes.

“I think distracted driving is the main contributing factor to most accidents around the world these days, not just on campus or in Lafayette, but everywhere with cell phones in everyone’s hands,” Hammett said.

While cell phones are a major source of distraction behind the wheel, Hammett noted that pedestrians are often just as guilty. “It’s a major problem on both sides, both inside of the vehicle and outside,” he said.

Hammett emphasized that reducing accidents will require a shared effort. “It’s everyone’s responsibility,” he said. “Whether you’re driving or walking, you have to avoid distractions and stay alert.”

On a campus where cars, bikes, and robots share the same space, one distracted second could be the difference between a close call and something far worse. For students like Fullerton, the Kiwibot incident is a strange but sobering reminder of how quickly things can turn serious.

“We laugh about it because it’s a robot,” he said. “But if it had been a person, it’d be a completely different story.”