The Outdoor Adventure Center held its second annual Share the Road Campaign March 3 through 7 in the Guillot University Center. The week-long campaign is meant to spread awareness for the rules of the road concerning motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.

“The reason why this came about is when I was in graduate school I had a friend who was struck by a car and actually killed,” said McKenzie Martin, coordinator of the OAC. “She was doing all the right things, and the motorist was texting and driving and not paying attention. We even have a professor in the geography department who was struck by a car last May and her leg was completely shattered.”

The campaign centers on asking students to sign a pledge saying they will obey the rules of the road, Martin said.

“This is someone’s life, if they’re walking too or from campus,” Martin said. “The whole point is to make students feel more comfortable to walk or bike to campus and to have less injuries.”

The idea for the campaign came from the University of Mississippi, Martin said.

“(A student) originally did the campaign as a senior project, and I got permission to use their logo and use the campaign idea,” Martin said.

Students also may have noticed a UNA police officer with the booth in the GUC, Martin said.

“This is a safety and awareness issue, and obviously police share that same goal of safety and awareness on campus,” Martin said. “That’s why I invited them to get on board with this. They’ve volunteered their time with us.”

The Share the Road Campaign is a great cause, said sophomore Austin Fuller.

“If people sign the pledge, it raises awareness, and it will make it easier for students to walk to campus or ride their bikes and be safe, Fuller said. “I hope eventually we can get a bike sharing program and areas on campus for students to ride their bikes to class.”

The OAC also hosted a bike maintenance clinic on March 4 to show people how to tighten brakes, lubricate wheels and remove wheels, Martin said.

“We had a lady who is opening a bike shop in Florence at Seven Points, Elizabeth Voorhies, coordinate the bike maintenance clinic,” Martin said. “I think we had eight people there, so we probably had about five or six bikes there.”

The OAC also had bike parades at 10:30 a.m. every day of the campaign to encourage students to ride their bikes, Martin said.

The OAC is trying to grow the campaign this year by appearing at First Fridays, Martin said. The OAC might begin bike rentals in the future as well.

“The week before the campaign, we sent out a survey to see if people had bikes or whether they wanted bikes,” Martin said. “We’re running the data on that to see the percentage of students that actually would want bikes. It’s kind of another focus of the campaign.”

Graduate student Patrick Shremshock has a personal connection with the campaign.

“I’ve ridden on roads that aren’t very bike-friendly,” Shremshock said. “I’ve been run off the road three times by motorists and nearly hit by a drunk driver on one occasion. In fact, by where I live, there were two cyclists who were killed by motorists that hit them — one being a hit and run.”

Shremshock helped with the campaign in order to see change.

“I’m every bit interested in trying to raise awareness to motorists that they need to share the road with cyclists,” Shremshock said. “If we can share that, maybe they will be a little more inclined to not blow the horn at us when we have every right to be on the road. We want to inform everyone on the road about the rules so everyone can feel safe.”