School pick-up lines clog roads. I’m part of the problem, but for good reason | Opinion
I’m sitting in my son’s pick-up line nearly two hours earlier than when school gets out.
I’m toward the front of the line, and we’re told to turn off the car. So I’m hot and sweaty and, yes, a little crazy.
One of the things I’ve been asked repeatedly since my son started middle school is why on earth I drop him off and pick him up.
“The district has buses, you know,” other parents say to me.
I’m aware that public school districts in North Carolina provide transportation. I’m also aware that drop-off and pick-up lines snake onto main roads, clogging up traffic both in the morning and afternoon. I am part of the traffic problem.
Here’s what you may not know: parents like me have good reasons why we choose this mode of transportation for our children. Those can range anywhere from it being easier for working parents to being wary of behavior on school transportation.
My son took the bus to and from school when he attended the neighborhood elementary school. Since that time, we moved to an area in our subdivision that is zoned for a middle school about 20 minutes away. Not only are the bus trips long — he doesn’t get home until after 5 p.m. most days if he takes the bus home. In the mornings, middle and high school students share a bus.
So, I make the trek in the morning and afternoon. Judging by the lines of traffic behind me, I’m not alone.
Police sometimes release maps of school pick-up line routes, including in Huntersville, where the police department asked parents to drive the pick-up line route before the first day.
“Traffic will be bad, we promise, so make plans to add time, and bring patience, to your trips,” Huntersville Police said on Facebook before the first day.
What do parents do in pick-up lines?
While I’m sitting in front of the school, I get a lot of work done. It’s quiet and little distracts me. I pay extra for an internet hotspot so I can work from the car on my laptop. Weekly meetings with my editor are often taken from my car, and if I interview someone on a weekday afternoon, there’s a high chance I’m talking on the phone from the pick-up line.
As I drive to and from my second office — the car — I also see a lot of frustrated drivers.
I get it. School has started and now you have to wait for buses and try and avoid back-ups at schools.
But here’s the reality: None of us, including school bus drivers, are purposely making commutes more stressful. We have a job to get children to school.
Practice patience and grace.
Tips for drivers
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools offered tips to drivers to start the school year that include when and how to stop for buses according to North Carolina’s School Bus Stop Law.
Here are tips and rules I’ve collected from CMS and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department:
▪ Never pass a stopped school bus that has its lights blinking and signs showing.
▪ Please pay extra attention to lower speed limits in school zones and follow them. Also slow down in neighborhoods especially if you’re driving by bus stops.
▪ Don’t pass other cars who are following those lower speed limits in school zones.
▪ Please never text and drive.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says: Be alert and aware.
And here are my final words of advice as I sit here, waiting for the final school bell to ring: plan ahead and leave early to allow time for the extra traffic during your commutes.
The best part of my commute to school every morning and afternoon? Quality time with my son. We have some of our best talks during those 20-minute drives.
This story was originally published August 29, 2023 at 10:04 AM.
