As the sound of tires screeching ambush my ears, I am left to think, why am I fighting for my life at 8:15 in the morning? Each and every day, students are forced to sprint through a crazy parking lot just to arrive at school safely. What is meant to be a quiet and controlled environment has turned into a free-for-all. Instead of rolling into parking lots like good drivers, people are cutting corners at full speed as though in a race. The whole parking lot situation isn’t just annoying, it’s really dangerous.
Students are trying every day to walk to school, but they must contend with the cars whizzing by them, the distraction of people not paying attention, and the last-minute turns taken as if they’re trying to reach some critical destination. It doesn’t look like it’s going to work because everything seems dangerous. No one should have to be afraid of an automobile collision from just attending their first-period classes. It just feels like everybody’s doing whatever they please and that’s not safe for anybody. We just want to get to class without being run over.
The parking deck at North Atlanta is a complete disaster. The lanes don’t function, the ground arrows are either invisible or ignored, and everyone does what they want. Some of them drive the wrong way down lanes, others take turns at full speed without looking. Backing out of a parking spot without being hit is a crapshoot. Everyone’s in a rush, and they let it show.Walking across the deck is bad too. There isn’t a designated area for us to walk safely, so we’re taking our chances in between parked cars hoping to be spotted by drivers. Students are actually dashing just to avoid getting hit. It is not cool or amusing, it’s stressful and frankly scary.
It’s not a question of one or two bad days, either. This is every morning. Afternoons are just as wild. After school games or events? Still wild. There are close calls all the time, cars almost crashing, people yelling, horns honking nonstop. It’s a nightmare. Worst of all is that nothing ever gets done about it. Everyone just acts like this is the new normal. But it’s not. We shouldn’t have to risk getting hit by a car in order to go to school. Even little things would help, like visible signs, someone out there to manage traffic, or even speed bumps to slow people down.
At the end of the day, we’re just trying to get to class safely. That shouldn’t be too much to ask. Right now, the North Atlanta parking deck feels more like a race track than a school zone, and that needs to change.
