Driving Etiquette

I believe that most everyone has been in the same situation as I have many times. It’s when you were trying to find a parking spot and you couldn’t because someone else took up two parking spaces and didn’t bother to fix it. I have found that this is a particular problem in the Lake Region parking lot. Several days I have been in this situation. When I tell other people their immediate reaction is “oh yeah, the same thing happened to me.” I think the real question is, why is this a problem at all?

Recently I have contacted Mr. Wentworth our school Driver’s Education teacher about how the skill of parking correctly is approached. He replied that, “This is a skill that the majority of students do not struggle with especially if they are parking between or next to cars.” While I’m sure that some of the students do park well, if you look at the parking lot it is evident that some students could have been helped by a little extra time spent learning to park correctly. Having the skills to park your car correctly is something that is essential if you drive at all. I think that being able to park should be a requirement in our Driver’s Education program. You have to park your car everywhere you go and you should be able to know how.

This actually causes a lot of problems and frustration even in the teachers’ parking lot. The teachers’ parking lot has many issues mainly because it is a dirt parking lot with no lines marked out. What happens is people start a line of cars but other people start another line and end up making it harder for people who get there later. I feel that there should be something done to make this a little better. I understand that paving that area of the parking lot may not be an option. But, maybe an alternative could be marking out spacing with poles or signs. 

Personally, I don’t think that just ignoring the fact that other people also have to park their cars is okay. If you park badly you should take the time to fix it. Honestly, everyone knows that we only have so much parking for everyone. There is no excuse for parking badly on purpose for attention or to be funny. Happy parking everyone!