According to The National Safety Council (NSC), 60 percent of students are likely to be on their phone while driving in school parking lots. Students face the possible risk of vehicle-pedestrian collisions every day when coming and leaving the school. But students are saying it’s not texting that is the problem today, at least not all of it.
When students finally leave school to head home, many rush to the parking lot to try to leave the lot as quickly as they can. Because many students are trying to leave, some try to back out of their spots quickly, which increases the chances for blind spots and possible collisions. This also applies to walkers as well, who walk behind cars when trying to take shortcuts through the parking lot.
“The parking lot after school is a war zone, not just for walkers but for drivers too,” senior Danielle Minjarez said. “Some kids are going too fast or they’re not letting anybody go through. The entire “pedestrians have the right of way” is completely ignored. It’s not even just the students either. There’s parents who don’t know how to drive either and are entering the school zone at 50 MPH on their phones.” Students say protocols and policies aren’t being abided by, and parent drivers park in the student parking lot, blocking student drivers and walkers who are trying to get home.
“Many zoom past the football field to get to the parking lot,” Minjarez said. “They’re on their phone while doing so, so I have no idea if I should cross or not, which I never do anymore because I don’t want to risk it. There’s just so many cars and it’s extremely congested. I know it’s hard for both the walker and student driver leaving school.”
The issue of drop-offs seems to be a concern among student drivers, walkers, and teachers. Some say parents don’t abide by the protocol for dropping off their kids. Many ignore the drop-off line that safely allows for parents to exit without causing major traffic.
“So many parents drop their kids off everywhere but the drop-off line,” senior Jenna Delozier said. “Just this morning I was stuck in a line in the student parking lot because three parents in a row let their kids out and held us up.”
Many parents stop in places where they are not allowed to park in order to let their kids out. Students are then running in front of cars in an attempt to get to the W doors, causing concerns about possible accidents during the morning.
“One solution might be to have someone out there directing traffic and having specific drop off spots,” P.E. teacher Kim Sanko said. “This was done at one of my kids’ middle schools. The staff was very strict as they had to be to ensure the safety of the students.”