For juniors and seniors, turning seventeen means one thing – getting their license. With all these new drivers on the road, the parking lot can be a dangerous place. If you don’t watch out, you, or your car, could get hurt.

French teacher Ms. O’Hara, for example, was rear-ended on the second day of school! She said about the accident, “I was on my way to work and I had just stopped at the light by Old Country Road and Montauk. As I was waiting for the light to turn green, a student hit me from behind!” Luckily, there was only slight damage to her rear license plate.  This goes to show that we all should be careful when driving to and from school.

Even though accidents like these might seem funny, each year about 3,000 teens are killed in motor-vehicle crashes, and over 350,000 teens are treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in a crash every year.

The leading causes for teens crashing is mainly failing to scan the surroundings, going too fast for conditions, or being distracted by something inside or outside of the vehicle. Also, the risk for an accident goes up drastically if a new driver has other passengers in the vehicle.

Students should treat every drive like it’s their road test. Always be careful, and always stay safe.