Take a walk across campus, and you’re bound to find maimed animals — and the reckless drivers speeding through campus are strongly to blame.
Throughout the course of one school day, UM freshman Charlotte Allen saw three different dead baby ducklings in campus parking lots and garages. On the way back to her dorm, she found one duckling run over outside of Centennial Village. Then, in the parking garage behind Mahoney-Pearson, she saw two more deceased ducklings.
“You could literally tell that they were walking in a line behind their mom, and then they just got run over by a car,” said Allen. “It was just really, really sad. I started crying.”
It isn’t the first time Allen has seen something like this. Just before winter break, she spotted one duckling that had just been run over. Its mom and sibling stood by the duckling, seemingly waiting for it to wake up.
Florida is known for its reckless drivers, and Miami just might be the worst. A recent study conducted by Lemon Law Experts found that Miami has “the worst drivers in the United States.”
While the posted speed limit on campus is 15 mph unless otherwise noted, it’s not uncommon to see campus visitors, students and staff driving far faster than is necessary or safe.
In a statement to The Miami Hurricane, the University of Miami reaffirmed UMPD’s commitment to campus safety, naming speeding as “a significant hazard” particularly in high-traffic pedestrian areas.
“UMPD enforces traffic laws through education, prevention, and patrols aimed at reducing crashes and promoting responsible driving, not simply issuing citations,” wrote UM. “All traffic incidents involving injuries to people or animals are taken seriously and fully investigated.”
Animals may be the main collateral from near or on-campus speeding, but students are just as much at risk. In the very first week of the 2025/2026 school year, two freshmen were struck by a car on US Route 1 — and just this month, a skateboarder was hit by a gray Honda near the Watsco Center.
The Coral Gables campus is small, making it easily walkable, and easy to leisurely drive through. Speeding through campus might get you to class a little earlier, but it’s not worth the life of any living creature.
Our campus critters are just as integral a part of the University of Miami community as the student body, and it’s time we start treating them as such.
UM community members can report reckless behavior by calling 305-284-6666.