School Traffic
Driving to school is convenient until everyday traffic turns dangerous. Jam-packed student parking lots caused four accidents within three days of first semester.
In total there have been 790 parking passes issued this year at francis howell.
“My brother and I are both impatient in traffic,” junior Olivia Simmons said.“I feel frustrated when I have to drive.”
“I hate when Olivia drives,” junior Eli Simmons said. “Even though I don’t like driving to and from school, I prefer to because I feel like I am the safer driver when it comes to traffic.”
Weather can be a factor in accidents. Junior Samuel Wuest was involved in a serious car accident, Dec. 11. Wuest was in junior Kenneth Batsell’s car. Batsell had minor injuries; however, Wuest broke his ankle. The day of Wuest and Batsell’s accident, it had been pouring down rain.
“ At first I was in shock it all happened so quick I wasn’t sure what was going on,” Wuest said. “From my experience, traffic can definitely be dangerous.”
“Accidents are called accidents for a reason,” site supervisor and Howell head of security of Scott Hager said. “No one intends on getting in car crashes but to prevent them students need to take their time going in and out of the school parking lot, staying level headed, and pay attention to the road and their surroundings.”
The administration and security staff have worked on the traffic patterns and guidelines trying to find the best solution. Changes have been made including changing the direction traffic moves in the parking lot and closing the front gates until all of the busses leave. With the new changes there have not been any accidents near or on school grounds since first semester.