By: Lily Amback / News & Opinion editor and Jalen Thompson / Staff writer
The winter season can be the scariest time for a new driver.
Many things could go wrong such as hydroplaning, trouble seeing and tire pressure suddenly failing. For some students, these nightmares became reality.
Senior student drivers Blake Hurst and Chris Moore have both been driving for over a year. But, when the first snow of the year hit on Monday, Nov. 10, both were caught off-guard.
On a normal day, Hurst regularly drives to school without any problems. However, on Nov. 10, Hurst was approaching a roundabout, and the icy roads caused his brakes to lose traction and run into the person in front of him.
Similarly, Moore was on the country roads 700 and 300, and as he was approaching a turn, he lost control and slid off the road.
Neither could continue driving to school. Hurst called a tow truck to get him back to his house and Moore’s parents drove him home. Both are uninjured and currently back in the habit of driving themselves to and from school.
Many other students had a very similar experience to this.
With this bad of weather, many students wondered why there wasn’t a two hour delay.
“The decision process starts the evening before when we’re watching the news. We also have an app called Bam. It provides us with daily updates on what’s happening in our area of the woods. So we’re watching that,” transportation director Jobie Whitaker said. “We have to make a decision…by 5:30. We have two other people driving, so I’m in the eastern part of the district; they’re in the northwest, southwest. We’re talking all morning, what are we seeing? I’m talking to the Mount Vernon guys out driving, I’m talking to Greenfield-Central’s. What are they seeing? What are they thinking?
“On last Monday, at 5:15 in the morning, it was pretty clear, not too bad, and then it just progressively got worse as the morning went on. On that particular day, we start talking about if we delay, what type of situation does that put high school drivers or staff in? Because it got worse as the morning went on instead of better. So we just have to make a decision based on what’s in the best interests of our kids, not only driving to school, but also families, that they have to make arrangements if they have daycare. It’s those types of things, but also safety is paramount.”
Recently, the main reason a delay would be called is because of fog and snow.
“Fog is an interesting one because it ebbs and flows,” Whitaker said.
Fog can be extremely dangerous due to its ability to decrease visibility. It can hide a car that is only five feet away.
However, the cure to this is not to put the car’s bright lights on. That can make the fog worse and even cause a glare, making it harder to see the road. It is advised to go slow and allow extra room between your car and the car in front of you.
“Snow is a different beast because you’re looking at how much snow do we get, is it drifting, is it blowing, those types of things,” Whitaker said.
Staying safe in these conditions are also vital.
“My daughter just graduated from here last year. I always talked to her about giving space between the car in front of you, because it’s going to take longer to slow down,” Whitaker said. “I think that the space between cars is really important when you drive, even in rain, it’s slicker than when it’s dry, so pay attention to what’s going on, the cars ahead of you, not just the one in front of you, and stay off your phones, because you can’t multitask, even if you think you can. Things are happening way too fast to be on your phone…especially when the weather turns bad.”
The winter weather can be scary for the entire community, especially for new drivers, but there are many people working behind the scenes to decide if the weather warrants a delay.
On Tuesday, Dec. 2, school was cancelled and New Palestine ran a virtual day instead.
“The amount of continuous snow throughout several hours made it challenging for road crews to plow and salt or sand all of the roads. When the delay was called, I was not certain if it would continue much past the time I made the decision for the two-hour delay, but the snow did continue. The county also had issued a low level travel advisory, which meant we could still have school but it adds another layer of information to consider,” superintendent Gina Pleak said.
With all this in mind, Pleak, Whitaker, and several others made the decision to call off school.
The next day, a 2-hour delay was called because of icy roads stemming from the snow that came down on Tuesday.
“I also want students and families to remember that you always have the final say in deciding whether it feels safe for you to drive or attend,” Pleak said. “While I can’t promise I’ll get every weather call perfect, I can promise that every decision is made with safety and care at the forefront.”
