Imagine you get out of school with relief that the day is over. You walk towards the overflow parking lot, about to cross Titan Way. You look right and left, ensuring no cars are coming from either direction. You make it onto the road, and suddenly, a car going 40 MPH down the road stops inches from your hip. This is a daily reality for students walking through the school parking lot. Drivers are in a rush to leave school, whether they are going home at the end of the day or going off-campus for lunch. This causes them to be more focused on beating the traffic on Titan Way, and less focused on pedestrians crossing the street right in front of them. 

We have had many experiences in the parking lot where we have been crossing the street to the overflow lot or trying to back out of a parking space, and a car almost hits us because they were going too fast. Pedestrians always have the-right-of-way, and students need to be more aware of that.

We understand that students want to avoid getting stuck in traffic on their way home, but they need to put the safety of their peers first. Kids leaving the parking lot need to be more aware and cautious of  people crossing the street or trying to get out of their parking space. There is no need to be going 40 MPH down a 25 MPH street exiting the parking lot. This puts pedestrians in danger and makes it a stressful experience for people trying to get to their cars.

The school should take action since students are in danger. To make a difference, we should ask sheriff’s deputies to spend some time at  the exit of the senior lot to monitor the traffic during lunch and after school. This will make kids think twice before they rush out onto the roads, and prevent someone from getting hurt.