When the bell rings announcing the end of the school day and many students rush to their cars to go home, some stay back to let the crowd of their peers diminish before they get into their cars to drive home. Since 12 percent of the drivers that are distracted and get in a fatal car accident are teenagers, according to www.edgarsnyder.com, should SHS drivers have something to be afraid of when they enter or exit the SHS parking lots?

As the days of the 2015-2016 school year pass by, more and more students are acquiring driver’s licenses. More legal drivers means more vehicles in SHS parking lots, but does that equal more danger for veteran drivers? When compared to people of other age groups, 16 to 19 year olds have the highest average annual crash and traffic violation rates, according to www.dmv.gov. However,  there have been less than five parking lot incidents that have been reported to the school. These incidents were a combination of theft, vandalism, and car accidents.

“More or less it was a reckless driver,” Assistant pricipal AJ Martzal said. “We haven’t had a lot of accidents.”

SHS is constantly trying to monitor parking lots and keep all students safe from being victims in a car accident, according to Officer DeBoard. In the student parking, lot reaching all the way from door five to the auditorium, SHS has placed police officers to watch over the students coming and leaving school.  There are also cameras that record the school’s parking lot  seven days a week to keep watch for anything happening in the lot.

“I think it’s safe. We have very few problems in the parking lot,” Officer DeBoard said.

Even though the school is playing a part in keeping the student drivers safe, there are many ways students can keep themselves safe, too, according to both Officer DeBoard and Martzall. This includes reporting suspicious behavior or accidents, and buying a parking pass for 5 dollars, which allows officers to contact students if an accident occurs when they are not at their vehicle. Another tip officers have is for all students to remember their general driving skills.