Being a student in the parking lot everyday, I understand how busy it can get. It could take anywhere from a minute or 20 to get on Sommers Road from my parking spot. But having a line of parents waiting for their kids in the middle of the parking lot does not make it any easier.

Everyday you have the three or four cars waiting in the student parking lot right in front of the walkway. Not only is that hold up traffic for all the parking spaces behind them but it’s also dangerous for all the students walking. When a car is just waiting there, my first instinct is to go around because they won’t be moving anytime soon. While doing that, numerous of situations could occur. Students could be crossing and I don’t see them till last second because I’m more focused on not hitting the car I’m going around. A car could also be coming from the other way. If I’m trying to go around a car, and another car is driving towards me, now I’m in the way of them and it causes a confusion between everyone.

Another problem that has happened to me more than once is when leaving, cars fly past me when backing up. There was one time when I was about half way out of my parking spot and a car comes speeding behind me. At first I thought it was a student who was also trying to leave, but when following their direction to the exit, I notice the car stop and wait. I thought they were waiting for students to cross, but then I see a student get in the car, and then drive off. This has happened to me more than once while leaving school. Students already have to be aware of the other students trying to leave the parking lot frantically, but now we also have to worry about the parents picking up their kids in a hurry as well.

Parents also wait in the empty students and faculty spots at the end of the day. Yes, it is better than in front of the walkway, but at the same time they can get in the way of me trying to leave. When leaving school, I always let other cars out in front of me, because I understand the struggle of trying to escape the mayhem of the lot. But I normally only let students out of their spots. When parents are trying to exit a parking spot, I normally move up in the line, due to the fact that they should be waiting with all the other parents in the pick up lane.

Everyone knows of the neighborhood next to Liberty, and it’s walking distance from the school. Some students who live in the neighborhood find it aggravating when parents park in the side of the road and wait for their kids to walk to the car. The roads in the neighborhood are only two car lanes. So when parents are waiting in the front, they are blocking one of the two lanes. It’s very difficult to enter the neighborhood when a car is waiting on the side of the road sometimes. But what makes it even harder is when there is a car exiting the neighborhood at the same time. At that point, you have to wait for the exiting car to leave before you can enter because there is no room for three cars at the entrance.

The parking lot as is has many rules, which I understand is for our safety, but it gets frustrating when cars that aren’t supposed to be in our lot make our entering and exiting more difficult than it should be. In the end, parents should have to go in the car rider lane and wait for their kids, just like most of the other parents. They student parking lot is for students that drive to school, and should stay that way.