Student Opinions on the Parking Lot

Students+share+their+experiences+in+the+student+parking+lot+and+the+fears+that+come+with+them.

Students share their experiences in the student parking lot and the fears that come with them.

Meredith McCalmon, Emily Harter, Writer

If you have ever driven in the Olathe West parking lot, then you know firsthand the chaos that occurs. The lot is a frenzy of students rushing to find a spot, kids scrambling to get in and out of school as soon as possible, and pedestrians who have to race across the street in order to escape the peril of cars rushing past. Many students feel as though the parking lot is a place where driving rules don’t exist.

 

Kaitlyn Knight

“I feel like the school parking lot is a very rude place. I’ve had people rev their engines at me and honk at me,” junior Kaitlyn Knight said. 

The overall disregard for others by students in the parking lot has gotten so out of hand that accidents have been caused on multiple occasions.

 “In one instance of someone revving their engine behind me, I got scared and side swiped someone while parking,” Knight said. “I know other people who have gotten hit, or hit someone else, and I feel like it should be bigger or there should be not as many people in each one, because there are way too many people in this school and it’s scary.” 

 

Kalista Brown

“The school parking lot is the scariest parking lot in the entire world,” junior Kalista Brown said. “I always feel like I’m going to get hit by other people’s cars.”

Brown has also noticed a trend of situations where a student will cause damage to a car and fail to take ownership for it.

 “I’ve definitely gotten dinged before, because there’s a white mark in my car that was not there before, and I feel like that probably happened here,” Brown said.

 

Annie Hennen

Other students though, like junior Annie Hennen, don’t have much of an issue with the infamous parking lot. 

“I think the school parking lot is a pretty good parking lot,” Hennen said. It’s kind of busy, but I haven’t had too many instances where people have almost ran me over, I haven’t run anyone over. I think it would be less busy if we had designated entrances and exits.” 

 

Riley Keiter

The general consensus of the parking lot seems to be that it carries extremely chaotic energy.

“A week or so ago I was driving in the roundabout, like normal,” Keiter said. “The way I’m going, I have to go left so I go all the way around, and as I was driving, a random guy just decided to drive into the roundabout as many people were in it. So, I was there driving like normal, and then a guy in a big old truck almost hit me, and I am in a tiny Honda, so it wasn’t exactly safe.”

This isn’t the only time Keiter was a victim to the reckless driving of pedestrians. She had been involved in another incident as recently as this past week.

“[On April 13] I was making a right into the school so I could go through the roundabouts, and as I was making a right, I had a green light, which means of course, right of way,” Keiter said. “However, a car that was making a left into the same lane I was going into decided that even though they did not have a right of way, and did not have a green light, it was their turn to go. They almost hit me and my sister, and I had to swerve out of the way and almost hit the curb.”

While some students may be more fortunate when it comes to incidents in the OW parking lot, most students can agree that parking spots are scarce and people drive recklessly. Students could relieve the parking lot chaos if more people would check their mirrors, slow down, and watch out for pedestrians. Stay safe Olathe West!