The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Reckless driving in the parking lot poses dangers, creates unnecessary annoyances

Every morning and every afternoon, hundreds of students and parents weave their way through a chaotic parking lot. Not only does this create a nuisance for everyone trying to get to school, it also poses a serious threat to students (and their cars).

Part of the problem is inconsistent ticketing in the lot, which leads to congestion and overcrowding. This is especially the case toward the end of the year, when many underclassmen without permits begin to park in the lot. On a typical day, The Talon counted over 25 cars, or 1 in 8, parked illegally in the school lot. The sum of all the parking ticket fines that those cars would collect if ticketed would exceed $700. Ticketing on a regular basis would bring in money, and it could also decrease the amount of overcrowding in the parking lot.

However, the bulk of the responsibility for creating a dangerous environment lies on students. Everyone expects teenage drivers to be reckless, but on some days the LAHS parking lot takes the stereotype to new levels. Students find dents on their cars on a regular basis. Trying to get out of the parking lot after sixth period on Wednesday is a panicked ordeal. It has become all too common to see cars parked in areas that aren’t even parking spots—a result of overcrowding, but one that creates even more dangers for others parked in the lot.

Even discounting the possibility of serious accidents, the parking lot situation causes unnecessary stress. Traffic in the parking lot is annoying, but honking horns and screeching tires make it unbearable. It doesn’t make sense to create even more problems in attempts to beat the rush, since we’re all stuck waiting in line at the end of the day anyway.

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Don’t speed. Let other cars in and don’t cut other people off. It’s not that hard—and even if it is, it’s definitely easier than scraping up the money to pay for the dents you put on someone else’s car. Driving is a privilege and we should all treat it as such.

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