Morning Traffic

Grace Rumsey '23   Staff Writer

The traffic at Howard High in the morning is chaotic. Because of COVID, many students are choosing to drive to school instead of taking the bus, adding to the already congested parking lot. As a student, it is hard to feel safe coming to school knowing that two accidents have occured on the roads near the school in the morning. Howard High School vice principal, Mr. Sackett, elected to stand in the parking lot in the mornings to make sure students could cross the crosswalk safely. When asked about the accidents at Howard he said, “There is no worse call to get on the radio than hearing that students have been in an accident.” He says he feels bad about this because he wishes it was an easy and seamless experience to get all staff and students safely into the building. Adding to this, Mr. Sackett said, “Accidents happen, especially with new or inexperienced drivers who are still learning the nuances of driving in traffic or the timing of vehicles.” He provides some advice for student drivers by emphasizing how important it is to not take risks when driving, especially on wet or icy mornings. Personally, I would feel a lot safer if there were more people helping to control the flow of traffic into the parking lot. Recently, there has been an issue with drivers making a right hand turn into the school from the center lane. This is an illegal turn and the driver could be given a citation; this could also cause an accident. When asked if he had any tips for student drivers or if there were any changes he wanted to make to the parking lot system, Mr. Sackett said, “Since I can't make any physical improvements to the parking lot, I will lean on my go-to suggestion which is to leave your house as early as possible to ensure you give yourself enough time to get to school. Once 7:10- 7:15 hits, traffic gets very heavy.”

​Driving 101:

• Ice is slippery, don't speed on it
  
• Turning signals are intended for you to use when you plan to turn
  
• If you leave late, you’re going to arrive late
  

• Texting and driving don't belong together
  

ELLICOTT CITY MD, MARCH 1, 2022 - Around 7:10 AM, the parking lot is already very crowded which makes getting into the school a slow process. G. RUMSEY/ LION’S TALE