by Jenna Timmons ’21

Even though Sherwood students are not utilizing the school parking lot right now, they will return driving to and from school, whether it happens this school year or not until the fall. Once the bell rings during a normal school day, hundreds of Sherwood students come pouring out of the building and rush into their cars. The once calm parking lot becomes filled with anxious and even violent drivers. In the rush to get out of the parking lot before the buses begin to leave, many students speed and cut each other off, but the chaos does not end in the parking lot. Once the security guards wave drivers onto Olney-Sandy Spring Road, students are already antsy with adrenaline. 

This frenzied energy is the cause of occasional car accidents. Just this school year, four car accidents have been reported to the police, with more unreported.  An example of these unreported car accidents is when junior Alexis Fout pulled out of the school and was rear-ended at that first stop light. 

“The person behind me was speeding and couldn’t stop in time so they hit me,” recounted Fout, “At first I was pretty calm, I motioned to pull off to the right to examine the cars. I noticed a couple scuff marks, but nothing too serious. After a couple minutes I became more anxious and forgot to get the person’s insurance. After I got back in the car I noticed my body was shaking. To this day I am still scared of someone hitting me and I have become more aware of my surroundings.”  

According to Sherwood Security Team Leader Kenneth Nelson, “Security doesn’t track the number of accidents that take place at school.” He goes on to say that the only way to prevent these accidents is for students to be patient. “They must understand that taking the time to slow down and be kind to each other when moving about the property will cut down on unnecessary accidents.”  When asked about having security monitor aggressive driving in the parking lot, Nelson explained that “Security is in the parking lot after school directing traffic to assist the buses to exit the school … the five security staff members are hard at work preventing accidents in the front of the school each and every day.” Lastly, he explains the reason for the after school back-up in the parking lot is because, “security must assure that all buses are off property by 2:45 pm each school day.” 

Currently there is no dedicated security to monitor the cars in the parking lot at Sherwood. This means that the students must regulate themselves. One way to improve the conditions in the parking lot is for the school to issue a parking lot safety video in homeroom, outlining the rules and how to stay safe. The video would also explain the priority of buses needing to exit the school by 2:45. Overall, the information might improve student patience and awareness, hopefully reducing accidents.