The Wayne Valley student parking lot has become increasingly dangerous, with daily reports of near-misses, reckless driving, and hazardous conditions that are putting young drivers and pedestrians at risk. The new school year has started, and the seniors have a new adjustment to make. While the parking lots are very convenient to students, they can also be dangerous. 

           With the seniors having to share spots, there has been a lot of talk around about how people feel about this. “I don’t like having to share my spot,” said senior Zoe Marquez. “ It is annoying having to work out who is going to drive every day; it would be much easier to have my own spot.”  

          Many students also worry about the congestion at dismissal and during lunch. Cars line up bumper-to-bumper as students rush to leave. “It feels like a race to get out of the lot,” said senior Kyla Fitzimmons. “Everyone is in a rush, and that’s when mistakes happen.”        

           Zoe explained how she saw a crash at the end of lunch, just within the second week of school starting. “I saw one car pull out in front of the other and scrape the side of the first car.” This could cause a much bigger problem if a way to keep the parking lots of Wayne Valley safer isn’t figured out sooner. 

       An article titled “NJ has the best teen drivers in US, researchers find,” includes research findings about NJ drivers. The researchers said that, “drivers in the Garden State came in last on a recent study of the ‘States with the worst teen drivers’ released by consumer research journal ConsumerAffairs–-that means New Jersey teens drive the best among their peers.” The new police officer of Wayne Valley disagrees with this article, though. He said, “the new drivers need to be more careful in the school parking lots or there is going to be a bad accident.”

       For now, students are encouraged to slow down, stay alert, and be patient when navigating the lots. While the student parking lot provides much-needed convenience, safety must come first — before a serious accident makes everyone realize just how dangerous it can be.