Hale: Slow down, be safe while driving crowded streets

Welcome freshmen and welcome back, Bearkats! This is a very exciting part of the year and for some of us, probably one of our least favorite times of the year. Yes, I said LEAST. I come across this problem every year but this year seemed to be worse than years before. I am just as excited as the next Bearkat to get back to school, see my friends and continue on in this life that I have sculpted to be my own, but what am I not extremely ecstatic about? Having to go out into the “wilderness” that becomes Huntsville as students and their parents race through parking lots, past stop signs and through red lights in a mad rush to do last minute shopping.

It seems that no one, nowadays, has any sense of his/her surroundings. There have been numerous times in the past week alone that I’ve almost been side-swiped, t-boned or rear-ended because someone was texting while they were driving or in a mad hurry. Everyone seems to only have the SELF awareness part down. No one cares to open his/her eyes and take a look around. You are not the only person on this planet or the only freshman starting in a new place, and you are definitely not the only person coming into a small town.

Students, along with their parents, need to realize that they are not in Houston, or Dallas or San Antonio anymore. You’ve come to a small, rural community to go to college so please have some respect for your elders and fellow drivers!

I believe that there is a solution to every problem, however. In this case, an etiquette class and drivers course should be required of every incoming student, freshman or transfer. These classes would emphasize how to take turns at stop signs, make complete stops, stop at red lights and not text and drive. They would also teach the importance of taking off your hat when you enter a building, holding doors open for ladies and learning to be patient while waiting in line. Oh, and revving up your Pinto isn’t cool anymore.

Overall, I give these first few days of the new semester a huge paws down. Not everyone has to go crazy and get in a mad hurry to do last minute shopping. As my step-father always says, “Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.”