By: Rajshri Patel

“People will fly by the line of cars and cut everybody off…” states Caeley Tallon. High school students are getting driver’s licenses and driving to school. Though the students are saying that reckless driving is the problem, not everyone will follow the rules of driving. 

The time before and after school is crazy. Traffic can be chaotic. Students are speeding and have a lack of observation. The main reason is that everyone is rushing to get out of the parking lot to go home or are in a hurry to get somewhere.“We all just want to leave, I get it” states Faith Pollington. Due to this, reckless driving can cause accidents and wrecks to other students’ cars. 

The way the student parking lot is designed could be an issue too. Most of the time students are speeding so they can leave school. The student parking lot is big and mostly juniors and seniors drive to school. Many students are driving to school, but only have one main entrance/exit which could be the cause of traffic. Though there is the back parking lot. “Parking lot was remade three times” informs Mr. Lancto. Having the parking lot remade is not going to be a solution. Adding one more entrance/exit can have a difference. There is something else that should be noted, “Even when people park, the parking spaces are small and you could hit someone’s car when you open your door” mentions Vu Nguyen. Cars are getting bigger, but space remains small. The parking lot remains small and compact.

There isn’t going to be a permanent solution but students could be making improvements. Students want to leave school quickly without any problems. As the school gets new drivers, new drivers learn from other students like speeding through the lot, stopping in the middle of the line to talk to people, or not stop when there is a stop sign. When students get licenses at first, students are careful and cautious but when students see how other people drive, they’ll start mimicking them and drive recklessly. 

Having the school at a busy location could be another cause too. The school is located in a congested area where there are a bunch of stores, restaurants, and workplaces. There is a system going on in the lot where there are two main lines and students take turns letting one car into the mainline to leave the parking lot. This is reasonably fair so that there isn’t one long line. Not all students are going to follow this and will break the system.

Driving recklessly puts the students at risk but also puts others at risk too. Setting examples for future drivers will help students from driving recklessly. We have the pieces of the puzzle, but not a way to fit it in if we don’t have a solution. “Everyone needs to play their part in safe driving. If they do everything runs smooth,” states Mr. Karpowicz. In the meantime, students can start making improvements too.