If you are a driver at Harriton, you may have noticed the small, innocent speed bump that has brought up many concerns from students and parents alike. A Twitter frenzy has erupted with an abundance of aggravated and sometimes humorous tweets. No matter the perspective, it seems to have brought up many questions. Suddenly, late on October 10th, an event rocked Harriton’s drivers. Half of the speed bump, on the right side of the driveway which leads to the school, disappeared.
As Harriton student drivers celebrated its removal, it caused many to question why the speed bump was installed originally? According to Mr. Eveslage, the speed bump was installed for safety purposes for the construction workers at Harriton. The decision to implement and takeaway the speed bump was out of his hands. Although he does admit there has been a rise of complaints about student tardiness, which students blame on the speed bump, Mr. Eveslage and Ms. Marcuson both agree that there are other contributing factors for this issue. If you haven’t noticed, Harriton High School has significantly increased its student body this year. This is what they believe to be one of the main factors in the increase of student tardiness.
Many believe that the speed bump was removed because of the plethora of protests, but in actuality this is not the case. The speed bump was removed due to decisions outside of Harriton’s immediate staff and therefore is still somewhat a mystery. The administrators of Harriton do feel as if the parking situation is still a dangerous issue that should be addressed in the near future.
So what does that mean for the Harriton Student Body? Students have been rejoicing in the fact that the speed bump has been taken away. Harriton student Ethan Cooper exclaimed, “I hate the speed bump. I am so happy that it is gone!”. Another student, Staci Dubow, remarked that “I am happy about it, but why only on one side?” Overall, the student body seems to be overjoyed at the removal of the speed bump. It came across as irritating and pointless to those who drive to school each morning. Many students treasured those few extra minutes in the morning before class without having to worry about being on time. One student, Sophie Siegel, remarked, “It made life a bit more stressful,” and no student wants to add stress to his or her busy day.
The surprising removal of the speed bump leads us all to one question: What comes next? It seems to be that no one knows. There is no confirmed or denied evidence of whether the speed bump will stay this way or not. Now all that we are left with is tardiness on record and a mystery that is yet to be solved.