Today: Mar 29, 2024

Drivers should not be confusing parking lots with race tracks

J’Mari Hughes Copy Editor

Every weekday morning I leave my home at 7:30 a.m. and venture off to another day of school. I cruise, at a decent speed, towards the Davis Hall parking garage, wave hello to the security guard and make my way to a spot where I can park my Volvo 240.

That is, until I slam on the brakes due to the student who thinks it is appropriate to go over 50 miles per hour in a parking garage.

It was not until this semester that I began parking my car in the garages on campus. Before that, I found myself in the commuter lot which, while being a long walk from the main campus, made me feel safer. The space is open, you can see all the cars around you and from what direction they are coming and because it is so far away, it seemed to me barely anyone else wanted to even park there.

But due to my classes being so early this semester, I figured why not park closer to campus? I put my big girl shoes on and got over the fear of parking in such a confined space and once I did I finally realized why parking garages are the worst.

It is not every single day that I experience some type of inconvenience in what some students consider to be a race track. Only rarely do I slam the breaks, only sometimes I swerve to let a car over, and hardly ever do I have to stop where there is not even a stop sign to keep another students’ car from colliding with mine.

But even so, I cannot fathom the reason some drive so unnecessarily fast, especially at 7 a.m., like where are you even going?

According to Southern’s website, the speed limit on parking grounds is 10 miles per hour. While I do not expect any student to actually abide by this rule, I think we should all make an effort to go no higher than 20. It is essentially a parking lot, other cars are around and more importantly, people are walking around on foot. Hitting a pedestrian or even another car is not worth the “thrill” of reckless driving, making it to class on time, or whatever other reason students drive like The Flash.

Unless I am in a rush, or nervous about the potential horn-honkers behind me due to taking five seconds too long to park, I tend to back my car into its spot. Not only does it make it easier to leave, it also assures my trunk and backseats will not get snapped off by someone driving too fast as I back out to leave. While this is an extreme exaggeration, I feel safer knowing I can see whether or not cars are coming as I prepare to exit.

On some days I hear the sound of a car engine revving its way through the garage to a parking spot, and on others I feel my car vibrating due to others’ speed. I have never experienced or witnessed an accident in the lot but still, that does not mean students should drive nearly as fast as they do.

At the end of the day, it is better to be safe than sorry. If driving safely is a sure way to keep from hitting someone else’s vehicle, then students should be quick to adapt to that rule. There is no reason to zoom to a spot, especially with the vast amount of other students around.

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