As students get their driver’s license the parking lot becomes more crowded and the chances of an accident occurring rise. Learning to coexist with pedestrians can be dangerous for some students. 

School police officer Lafayette Webb feels as though certain common accidents are the result of blind spots or unawareness of surroundings. While on campus Webb has learned to expect the unexpected.

“I’ve seen numerous accidents at Reno High in my 12 years,”  Webb said. “The most common accident is backing out and hitting a car in the lane or a sideswipe while trying to park. A third common accident is two cars backing out at the same time and they don’t see each other.”

Distractions play a heavy role into the safety of student drivers and can grasp attention long enough for students to make mistakes. Before he started driving, Junior Cole Melchert underestimated the impact of distractions while driving  

“I didn’t think it was going to be such a big problem,” Melchert said “When I started having friends in the car I didn’t realize that they would be very distracting, I wasn’t prepared for that,”

Students look to their peers to make up their opinion on how people drive and Senior Ashlen Hicks explained why she thought a certain way about her peer drivers. Because of her experience with her peers at the wheel she felt as though the road weren’t as safe for students as other people would think. She displayed her distrust in some of her peers to keep her safe while on the road. 

“A lot of serious accidents usually involve students who are irresponsible,” Hicks said. “I would say a lot are very good at driving but there is one or two who are just terrifying to be in the car with.”