8 October 2019 

Winter is quickly approaching and with that comes many possibilities of danger for students. Even in normal, mild weather, students are known for reckless, inexperienced driving and it becomes even more of an issue when students are driving in extreme weather. The dangers of driving in harsh winter weather are a problem we cannot eliminate; but we can work to drastically decrease them. Last school year our district went through a very intense winter and because of that we used all of our built-in snow days, and more. Students have spoken up about the issue and have shed a light on their personal experiences in these dangerous times. Along with many others, Senior Kylie Kiser and Junior Mckenzie Teeter have both had to experience these dangers of winter first-hand.  

One of the scariest things for any driver, especially a young one is trying to control and drive a car safely when faced with ice, sleet, snow, and even just the harsh cold.  

“My drive to school every morning is at least 25 minutes because I live in Springfield and with heavy snow or bad weather it can take up to 45 minutes,” Kiser said.  

Even for people that don’t live that far from their school, it can really take a lot more time for students having to travel on busy, traffic filled roads. 

For Mckenzie, a Junior at Papillion LaVista South High School, it can be dangerous and nerve-racking to have to drive on 370 every morning to school, along with all of the other high school drivers and adults.  

“The speed limit on 370 is 55 and with all the adults driving faster than I feel comfortable with in bad weather, it makes me feel like I have to drive faster to keep up with them,” Teeter said.  

This can lead to students driving faster than they should, in these conditions especially, and cause more accidents and dangers on the road.  

“Having to drive in the morning at the same time as adults going to work makes it really crowded.” Teeter said. 

One option the school district could consider is having a late start rather than not having school at all. In order to avoid students having to drive with the crowd of adults during rush hour and allowing the cleaning crews to take more time to safely clear the roads, late start is an option that could solve both of these issues.  

“It takes me a long time to get to school every morning so late start would give me more time to get there safely, and not have to leave so early.” Kiser said.  

We cannot control the weather, but we can work towards making it safer for everyone that is out traveling in it. We could avoid countless issues caused by driving or going out in general in these circumstances if our district looked into alternative options. Although our school district has some built-in snow days, there tends to be an issue regarding whether we have enough.