We all know getting to school in the morning can be a hassle. Many students leave their houses at 6:30, but due to traffic, do not arrive until right before the bell rings. You even drive yourselves to school and see the chaos that goes on around the student parking lots. 

In order for you to skip other cars and get to class on time, many of you drive on the wrong side of the road. Not only is this illegal, but it can cause accidents and severe injuries towards other pedestrians. Although getting to school late is not ideal, putting your life and safety first while driving should be a priority.  

The problems you cause do not only happen before school. When the bell rings at 2:20 p.m., many of you run out of your classes in order to get to the parking lot before the rush of traffic begins. This results in you getting distracted and becoming unaware of your surroundings which puts yourself, and all Palmetto students, in danger.

Additionally, many of your cars are parked at houses surrounding Palmetto. Unless personally granted permission to park at someone’s house, this disrespects people’s personal property and causes a nuisance in the neighborhood. Also, many cars park in the middle of side streets, blocking others from leaving the school, creating a longer delay. We all know the stress we face when we are already running late and there is a car blocking you. However, trying to find other solutions that are safer would help all of us. 

Hectic driving at Palmetto is the main cause of being late, but if teachers allow some leeway with the time of the bell, this could lessen many of the worries students have. Entering class 30 seconds after the bell rings and still being marked late is only a fraction of the frustrations we students experience. On top of studying for tests, homework and extracurricular activities, we should not have to worry about attendance when we are only a few seconds late. Many teachers donot allow you to enter class once the bell rings, creating multiple problems with being marked tardy, even if you arrived at school at 6:45 a.m. but may not have gotten into the parking lot in time. If teachers allow an extra few minutes in the morning for us students to arrive at class, this could prevent us from panicking in the morning and putting others at risk when driving.

To ensure the safety of all of you, hectic driving at Palmetto needs to be addressed. Taking responsibility is a huge step toward the goal of a safer driving environment at Palmetto. As students, we already have so much stress weighing us down, but by cooperating and figuring out ways to drive safely, we can all have one less thing to worry about.