Picture it: It’s after school. You are meeting up with your friends and rushing to your car before the traffic gets really congested. Cars are starting, students are getting situated in their vehicles. People are starting to leave then all of a sudden you hear the recognizable sound. The first to start the chorus of horns. Students are rushing in front of parents. Parents are turning around and doing the same. By this point, the atmosphere is getting intense. Everyone is getting frustrated with one another. It’s getting hard to have patience with the drivers out there. Driving in the parking lot should be easy, right? It should be, but it’s not.

One of the things they teach students in Driver’s Education is to practice courtesy. When it comes to Utah drivers, it couldn’t hurt to put courtesy into practice. It’s not just teenagers that are the only ones that are being ignorant on Utah’s  roads. It’s fathers, mothers, siblings, or grandparents. It’s easy to see those kind of drivers in our own parking lot.

Zach Tanner, a junior, thinks the north parking has the worst traffic.

Tanner said,” If you wait 10 minutes to leave school, you don’t leave for what feels like 20-30 minutes.”

The outside traffic should be more fluid and relaxing. It shouldn’t be a stressful aspect in our lives, but yet it is. Driving should bring freedom, responsibility, and integrity. Driving in the parking lot should be safe and easy but it’s not.

Anne Tobin, a junior, thinks her parking lot, the east parking lot, has the worst traffic.

Tobin said,” People are stupid and they stop in the middle of the road and it makes me mad.” She also said, “ It takes longer to get through because people stop and drop off their children in places they are not supposed to.”

Students are getting to their cars, trying to pull out of the parking space and suddenly this car is speeding behind them, almost causing a wreck. It’s almost always a teenager but other times, it’s a parent behind the wheel. This happens in all of the parking lots here. There’s also a lot of cutting off here. This has become a real issue.

When students are getting to school, the parking lots are mellow, quiet even. The second school ends, that’s when it starts. It’s not hard to understand that everyone wants to get home as soon as possible because they’re done for the day, but it’s also possible to take the time and remember that others are feeling the same way. There are ways to improve this situation.

The first thing everyone could do is to look to the left and to the right. Make sure the coast is clear. Once it feels safe to go, then by all means, go.  Pedestrians should look out for the drivers who aren’t really paying attention and should also look out for speedy drivers. It’s after school and no is going to pay attention to some student trying to get to their car. No one is going to have patience with pedestrians. Exercise caution.

Liz Sullivan, a junior, said, “ Watch out for other drivers and the people walking around.”

The traffic around the school can improve if everyone joins in the collaborative effort. The school parking lots can become better than what they are now. Students certainly don’t want to get into accidents and neither do parents/guardians. Consideration is key when it comes to driving. Use your knowledge from Driver’s Education.

Sullivan said, “Just be careful out there. It can get really crazy.”