DISCLOSURE: This is an opinion article. Please note that unsigned editorials represent the collective opinion of The Wingspan student news staff and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the adviser or Gretna East High School. Columns represent the opinion of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the adviser, the Wingspan staff or Gretna East High School.

Nearly every day the same story unfolds here in our school parking lot. As soon as morning practices end, students rush out the door to their cars. Whether it’s to go home and grab a quick shower before the school day or to make a food run, students have been bee-lining out of the parking lot with reckless abandon and speeding down the hill with no regard to anyone around them.

Obviously, high school students are novice drivers, but being aware of one’s surroundings, driving at the posted speed and following basic traffic laws is not an unreasonable expectation. While that may seem like a common knowledge statement, that knowledge doesn’t appear to be very common for many Gretna East drivers.

For example, the other day after school, the cross country team was running up the hill toward the roundabouts when a little blue car pulled out of the parking lot and as soon as they got close to us, the driver revved their engine and accelerated their speed to zip past us. Aside from the revving, the car was very loud and we could almost hear the car struggling to keep up as the driver pushed the gas pedal to the floor. The sound startled the entire group, causing many of them to take a step back, further away from the street, and turn to look at what was hurling their way. This even caused some athletes to stumble and bump into each other.

It’s also clear that our students need to reevaluate their driving practices by the simple fact that so many students’ vehicles show clear signs of trouble on the road from scratches and dents on them to literally being taped or tied together after accidents.
Unfortunately, it isn’t just a Gretna East problem. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), teenage drivers’ crash rates are almost four times that of drivers who are 20 years old and older. In fact, the leading cause of death for teens and young adults aged 15-24, just two years ago, was motor vehicle or traffic accidents according to the National Centers for Injury Prevention and Control.

It may not just be our students who have a problem driving responsibly, we do have the power to defy statistics by not acting like fools behind the wheel. It is time to stop with this invincible mentality and acknowledge the power we hold driving a vehicle.

We know better than to speed in a school zone and know not to do donuts in the school parking lot. At the end of the day, it may be fun, but having to pay between $500-1,000 for new tires because doing donuts caused your tread to wear thin won’t be, and in addition to being an undue expense, it can also cause major safety issues for when winter comes and it’s icy or snowy out. We also know what those white and yellow lines in the parking lot mean. We are not dumb, but always being in a rush and cutting across parking spots only opens us up to an accident.

If things don’t change, it is only a matter of time before a staff member or student is hit and injured or killed walking into the school building by a student punching the gas or cutting through the parking lot all just to get that ever-important extra three minutes in the shower. Time to do better, Griffins.