Let me walk you through a December afternoon in the student parking lot.
3:55: The bell rings. I begin a quick walk from the trailers behind the gym to my car. Kids converge in a bottle neck on the sidewalk. I mutter at least one awkward “excuse me.”
3:57: I grit my teeth and prepare to cross the road. I make a desperate dash, narrowly avoiding being hit by one of the seniors going to sports practice.
3:59: I finally make it to my car. My hands are numb as I fumble with my keys. Kids are desperately whipping out of their spots around me in an effort to avoid being trapped for the next 20 minutes. But my brother is coming from the math wing.
4:03: I thank God and my mother for my backup camera as I maneuver out. My neck jerks three times from slamming on my brakes as people zoom by far quicker than the school-mandated speed limit of ten miles per hour.
4:03-4:15: I sit and wait. We’re all teenagers but I feel like a jaded businesswoman as I wave people in from the side lots. My brother suggests we cut up through the senior parking lot, and I contemplate the unspoken rules of parking lot etiquette. I contemplate my life decisions. I contemplate if I’ll spend the rest of my life braking behind a sedan.
4:15: I make a left turn out onto High School Road and exhale in relief. I add a mental tally in my mind. Another day without a fender bender.
I’ve spent longer in that parking lot than I’ll spend on the rest of the drive home.
At best, the student parking lot is a minor annoyance. At its worst, it’s a hazard to students’ safety. In the junior lot, everyone is cramped together in the three rows placed the farthest from the school. And as students struggle not to double their insurance, rows of spots sit empty just a couple of yards away.
These spots will be filled with sophomores come springtime. But even then, despite the fact that there are dozens of empty spots sitting much closer to the school, that parking lot never fills up.
It would be much safer and more efficient to space the assignment of spots out, instead of cramming everyone in like hormonal sardines.
Junior Amanda Zhu acknowledges not all aspects of the parking lot can be changed. “My main issue is just that the line is very long, but we literally can’t control that,” she said.
Besides the logistical disaster, the parking lot is also physically falling apart. The entrance is marked with potholes that are impossible to avoid. Repair costs rise exponentially as road conditions worsen. According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, repairing a road that has fallen into poor condition can cost up to fourteen times as much as preserving a road in good condition to begin with.
Hitting a pothole can also cause a whole plethora of problems for your car, including premature wear on shocks and struts, engine and exhaust system damage, steering system alignment and wheel rim damage. As students saving for college, we shouldn’t have to worry about paying for damages caused by coming to school.
“I just got new tires, and I’m worried driving through the potholes every day might wear them out faster,” junior Allison Laufenberg said.
To own a parking spot for a year, students are required to pay $100. This money could be used for parking lot maintenance or security.
Students are paying for more than frozen fingers and possible whiplash. High schoolers have enough to worry about with adding potential car damage into the mix.
