by Roni L.
As students enter the age of getting the responsibility of a car, school parking lots can be a scary thing to new drivers. To top that, drivers who have little experience in heavy snow or rain can make driving even scarier. While it's something everyone who wants to drive has to learn, bad driving conditions are not to be taken lightly or without caution.
Lots of students wake up early after going to bed late and are tired, and rush to get to school on time, driving drowsy and maybe even speeding to get to class on time. According to NHTSA.gov, drowsy driving accidents happen mostly between 12-6am, Even most driving schools say that if you are tired to an extent, you should not drive because it’s not worth risking one's safety like that. Tired drivers are more likely to not catch something that they would when they're alert and awake. Teens also have a reputation of being more likely to text while driving, speed, or not wear seatbelts. Along with that, new drivers can be a little careless their first year(s) of driving, and school parking lots tend to get messy at times.
In advance, some students do take precautions when they know bad weather is around the corner. Sam L, a sophomore who just got his license in December says that when he knows it's going to snow, he wakes up earlier to wipe off his windshields and make sure no ice is going to cause him troubles. Not only that but making sure that the “windshield wipers are in the air” and that the car is defrosted and ready to go before the trip to school. Looking at the weather the night before is also a helpful insight for how the morning ahead should be planned. Driving slowly is also extremely important for students, and to not go at a speed that makes them uncomfortable.
No student wants to get up extra early just to drive to school in bad weather, and some give up and just decide they're going to be extremely late to school. This leads to an increase in bad attendance, which not only affects the student but the school's reputation as well. That being said, if you live in Colorado or any other snowy state, you are going to have to drive in snow at least once, it's inevitable. It's a skill not many can master, but that mostly everyone can learn.
However, students who get/got their licenses in warmer months won't have the experience that is needed to drive in hazardous conditions. Unlike adults that have driven to work more times than they can count, 16 year olds who freshly passed their driving test are fresh meat. Uncomfortable/ under confident teens are hazardous to not only themselves when driving but others on the road and with bad weather conditions it makes things worse. Students not having enough experience in rainy weather could lead to hydroplaning, which new drivers might not know how to go about; the same goes for black ice or slippery snow. For instance, a driver may attempt to dodge a pothole or ice and swerve into other cars or off the road.
Ditzy drivers are unavoidable, and so is bad weather; but knowing how to persevere and be safe should be something all teen drivers keep in mind.