By Jasmine Toolan and Daisy Medina
One problem we have in our community is how careless drivers are in general, especially in school zones.
Many don’t know how dangerous it is to be walking, especially after school hours. They would see students close to the crosswalk but instead of slowing down and waiting for their turn, they decide to speed up and make their turn just before the students can.
Students can also be careless and not pay attention to their surroundings. Sometimes students don’t have any other choice but to walk home, such as athletes. Practices can end late, way after school hours, and their parents can still be at work so it makes it a little more dangerous to walk home.
Yes, there are fewer cars around the school premises because most students have been picked up already, but there are still a few cars around going to their own destination.
Junior athlete, Andy Bourland says “I wouldn’t recommend walking if you have a safer and faster way home, but if you’re an athlete and your parents work late you might have to walk.”
and says he doesn’t think it is safe.
Being an athlete can have struggles because many cars may think school is over, so they think they can drive the speed limit they want but in reality a small portion of students are still walking home.
Freshman athlete, Jayshaun Green said, “I feel safe walking home because nothing bad happens even when I’m alone and it helps me not be lazy.”
Statistics
According to crashstats, there were 320,874 vehicle crashes from 2007 to 2016 and 0.4% of those crashes were classified as transportation to and from school.
According to edgarsynder, 32.8% high school students have texted, or emailed while driving nationwide. Also, about 5.8% of ages 16-17 and 15.1% of 18-20 years old result in car accidents by having alcohol in their system.
As we look at the statistics of accidents that happen nationwide, most of them are caused by texting and driving or having alcohol in your system. These accidents are usually caused by young people.
Comment below with your opinion on the safety of walking home.
SBHS Tyro Times 