The sound of a crash brought junior Lauryn Alonzo out of her friend’s car.

Only then did she realize her white 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan, parked right next to her, had been hit by another vehicle. The driver did not pull out far enough and hit her driver’s side bumper on Feb. 23.

Other students in the parking lot flagged down the driver, but by that time, Alonzo was in tears.

“The whole situation was just very overwhelming.” Alonzo said. “The security guard was a big help. He came down as soon as possible.”

Every other week, sheriff’s deputies are called to investigate another accident in a school parking lot.

“Especially in the back, they don’t even realize you can’t just turn right out of the parking space; you actually gotta pull out and then turn.” deputy Leo Estrada said. “A lot of the kids don’t know that, so the majority of the time when kids pull out, they hit the car.”

Sheriff’s deputy Dan Valenzuela said he wished teen drivers had more practice before driving to school.

“I wish people would be more responsible,” he said.

Sophomores and juniors, who don’t have as much experience with driving as the seniors do, park mostly in the lot known as Africa, which is where most accidents occr, according to sheriff’s deputies.

 “What two vehicles can do to each other is scary,” senior Justin Sarro said. “I think it’s people not paying attention thinking it’s a game. I mean you can kill someone very easily with just one wrong.” 

Another common issue is drivers’ inability to acknowledge students walking in the parking lots.  

“Drivers don’t pay attention when you’re walking around,” senior John Tschoepe said. “They drive really fast around the lot and don’t pay attention to people walking. That goes for people backing out of spots too. I’ve almost been hit multiple times walking to school or my car by people suddenly backing out of their spots.”