Accidents At FMHS

Driving can be stressful for anyone, but especially for new drivers. Particularly if these new drivers are crammed into a parking lot with 500 other new drivers trying to race to school, to lunch or home. Not to mention the kids that are walking through the parking lot, talking to their friends, on their phone, and just generally not paying attention to the cars. High school parking lots are dangerous places, and the Fruita Monument High School parking lot is no different.

According to the CDC, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in teens 16-19. Teen driving crashes are extremely common. While high school parking lot crashes may not often lead to injury or even death, there is still a very high risk of crash. You can probably ask almost any Fruita student, and they can tell you about an accident that they’ve seen or been a part of in the parking  lot.

Any person that hasn’t started driving will most likely express fear about driving in the high school parking lot. It’s stressful for their parents to drive there to drop them off, so thinking about taking on the challenge by themselves in not exactly something to look forward to. Sophomore Jayda Romero says that she is scared to drive in the parking lot “mostly because even when walking through the parking lot, the drivers don’t pay attention to their surroundings and kind of just go.” High school drivers certainly aren’t known for their cautious driving, especially with a car full of their friends.

Because of the inattention of the drivers and the students walking through the parking lot, many accidents happen in the parking lot every year. Last year, senior Trigg Hayward’s car was hit last year.  “My car was parked and someone was leaving and they were parked to my left and turned right out of the parking spot and scraped the front of my car and didn’t notice and they drove off.” This pretty much sums up high school drivers.

The CDC says that the key to safe driving is being attentive, following the speed limit, and most of all buckling up. Being attentive is probably the biggest one for navigating the high school parking lot. If drivers were a little more cautious, a few students might avoid some high school driving mishaps.