It’s not a secret that the parking lot is a prominent, persistent problem. From safety concerns to harmless jokes, it all goes down within the rows of slotted white lines at Arcata High.
Parking alone continues to be a significant issue despite the new parking permit system implemented by the school. Problems that have continued since last year include a lack of parking spots, inattentive pedestrians slowing the flow of traffic, and a lack of safety.
Already this school year, there have been multiple parking lot debacles, some bad, some harmless, and some hilarious. Some recent notable events include a hit-and-run car crash, a couch on top of a car, and consistent accounts of bad parking. Bad parking can include taking up multiple spots, parking sideways, or fully sending your car over the curb. How does this happen? We have the answers for you!
On the morning of September 15th, Jessica Kaber’s Toyota Prius Prime was struck by a large pickup truck. At the time of the accident, Kaber was in orchestra and did not realize until the end of the day what had happened.
“A parent of a student drove up in a pickup truck, into the red zone, but basically misjudged,” Kaber said. “Since my car is a Prius Prime, the tire of the truck hit the bumper of my car and completely took it off.”
The driver described in a note left on the windshield that she had recently bought the truck and was not used to driving such a big vehicle. Either way, the truck driver was pulling into a red zone, which is definitely not a good idea.
On the very first day of school, many Arcata High School students arrived on the first day confused as to why a living room-sized couch sat on top of senior Lars Gerdes’ Nissan Xterra. Those involved in retrieving the furniture said that it had come from a free pile-up in Kneeland. After senior sunrise, Gerdes and a car full of senior boys went up Kneeland to hoist the couch on top of the car.
Among multiple instances of miserable parking so far this school year, senior Lorenzo Amaro was one of them. Being slightly out of line and significantly slanted, it is no surprise that he is the perfect example of the atrocities that occur in the lot.
“Yes, of course it was intentional,” Amaro said; however, when asked to give his thought process of the parking occurrence, he quickly admitted that “it was not actually intentional.”
All in all, the unfortunate reality of our parking situation, although it’s fun to make light of, is a legitimate safety concern. A general consensus expressed by both senior Jacob Mola, Amaro, and Kaber is that the parking permits are working well as a first step towards safety, at least for now.
Mola suggests that “another exit from the parking lot and a crossing guard after school” would greatly improve overall safety. Kaber added that we repaint the lines of the parking spots to make them slanted. With these improvements, our parking lot will be a safer and slightly more bearable place, even with the dangerous activities that continue to occur.
