Why go to a Monster Truck event when the White Station High School (WSHS) parking lot is so close to home? Although the parking lot itself isn’t as wild as a car show, the drama, crashes and speedsters can make it feel like one.
Over the years, WSHS has adopted many new policies in order to control student drivers. From parking tags to designated spaces, safety on the school’s campus has always been a top priority, and Vice Principal Michael Ayers has set out to rein in every driver on campus once and for all.
“My presence everywhere changes student behavior … especially [in] the parking lot,” Ayers said. “And I’m not trying to change anybody, but I am trying to get them to respect the system. We need a system, we’ve got to be organized … If we can respect that, we can all get along and enjoy school. Otherwise, we have chaos and nobody likes that.”
At the start of the 2023 school year, students were limited to parking in the senior lot and only a few students who purchased parking tags later in the year were able to park in the East parking lot. This, along with students purchasing numbered parking tags, was a preventative measure against non-WSHS attendees entering campus grounds.
“Having designated parking tags has helped me locate vehicles when we’ve had issues arise,” Ayers said. “For the most part, students have been very respectful of each other’s assigned parking spaces.”
Parking lot etiquette means different things to different people. Whether it be from standing out of a car’s way or understanding traffic flow, there are many simple fixes that make the parking lot calmer and more predictable.
“Some people have good parking lot etiquette, others don’t,” Bailey Reynolds (11) said. “[Some students] walk in the middle of the rows, and drivers can swerve really fast into their parking spot.”
In the past, there have been incidents where not only cars but also students have been hit by cars in the parking lot. This year has been better in terms of driver and pedestrian safety, but there have still been issues of reckless driving and crowds filling the parking lot.
“Not paying attention and driving too fast [are common mistakes],” Ayers said. “And sometimes, [students are] using their cars to play games … Kids [are] riding on hoods and hanging out windows, speeding up, not watching or being in a hurry to be the first one out. Because they’re in a hurry, they’re not watching who’s coming from various directions.”
Ayers has begun to crack down on disorganized behavior in the parking lot in hopes of making the parking lot safer and more efficient for the buses, students and staff. He directs outgoing traffic from the parking lot after school from 2:15 to 2:30 and enforces the purchase of designated spaces for all driving students.
“Additional lighting [would make the parking lot safer as well as] understanding and really communicating how the traffic flow needs to happen,” Ayers said.
Driving can be difficult for everyone, and especially for new drivers the tasks of signaling, parking and reversing can be a lot to handle. It is important for all drivers to pay attention to their surroundings and remain patient, especially in a crowded parking lot.
“I feel like [drivers] can be very careless,” Izzy Williamson (12) said. “Some people are respectful, but from what I’ve seen, they can be a little reckless.”
Although the parking lot might be a stressful place when students’ safety is in the hands of teenage drivers, many students find the parking lot to be an area where they can reconnect with their friends and debrief after a long day.
“Part of the high school experience is being able to hang out and talk with your friends about plans or how school went,” Ayers said. “I think [the parking lot] is where that stuff happens because you don’t have class with everybody and the parking lot is a good place to catch up with your friends.”
