It is a scene that everyone knows and groans about: leaving school after the 2:30 p.m. bell, only to be held up at the top of the junior lot by a car that has decided to turn left and force their way into traffic.
“You do not know what those people in the far right lane are going to do; they’ll either let you go or they won’t, sometimes you get cut off and sometimes you’ll have to cut somebody off, or you can stop up the whole line and risk someone on Clayton Road,” junior John Eyermann said.
The heavy congestion after school is frustrating and nerve-wracking for students such as Eyermann, and people trying to make left turns only adds to the worry.
“One [accident] did happen last year that was kind of a severe one, about three cars. They do not happen very often because they’re supposed to make the right turn, but it has happened before,” School Resource Officer Scott Scoggins said.
For $33, the problem could be solved, by having the school purchase a sign that would make the lane leading out of the junior lot a right turn only lane during school hours.
“[A sign] would be the right way to deal with the issue because a left turn makes sense a lot of the time, but there are definitely certain peak hours of the day where there needs to be a right turn only sign,” junior Tony Galanti said.
By implementing a right turn only sign, the possibility of accidents happening when students are leaving immediately after school could be reduced.
“I think it would make it a lot more safe getting out of school,” Eyermann said. “Crossing over two lanes of traffic is always risky, even if it’s not on a main road like Clayton, and a sign would make it through a lot easier and a lot safer for all the people who are trying to not only trying to cross the street, like pedestrians, but to keep other people who are driving safe too.”
