The streets leading home from Staples this afternoon were riddled with fender benders. Students said they were not caused by inexperienced high school drivers but instead were a result of weather conditions.
“I only live 5 minutes from Staples, and I saw at least five cars pulled over,” Rachel Goldstein ’14 said.
The snow that began falling at dawn was a light, dry snow that didn’t do much to affect the driving conditions. However, as the day wore on, and snowfall grew heavier, the roads became slick and slushy.
As the snow began to cascade down from the sky with increasing force, students thought an early dismissal was inevitable. Despite their wishes, the clocks hit 10:15 a.m. with no announcement from Principal John Dodig, and the day wore on. Many schools across Fairfield County closed for the day, and Stamford, at least sent its students home midday in an early dismissal.
Students gawked at the snow piling up outside of classroom windows, dreading the expedition that would be their commute home. Driver Taylor Jacobs ’14 expressed nervousness, saying, “as the snow piled up it looked very dangerous to drive in.”
As the last bell rang at 2:15, students said later, they made their way outside, swept off their windshields, put on some calming music, and began to forge their way home.
“I shouldn’t have been out on the road to begin with,” Rob Vallone ’14 said. Vallone was driving his mother’s car home from school with his sister, Gigi Vallone ’16, in the passenger seat when he lost traction. “I slid on a patch of ice, over some rocks and messed up the front and bottom of my car.” No one was hurt in the accident, but Vallone said the car is in need of a trip to the autobody shop.
Unfortunately, Vallone was not alone as numerous other students reported ending up in similar situations.
“I was going 15-20 miles per hour going into the curve, and all of a sudden my car started listing to the right,” Nathan Francis ’14 said. His drive home didn’t end up in a trip to the mechanic, but the same can’t be said for the truck behind him. “The truck that had been following was about 50 feet back, and, having not been so lucky in dealing with his skid, smashed into a mailbox.”
In an Inklings article earlier this year, Superintendent Elliott Landon said that when bad weather is expected, students should take the school bus to school, noting that buses are much safer in bad conditions.
However, students said they find flaws with this line of thinking. Francis, for example, has used Facebook to encourage friends to file complaints with the superintendent’s office.
“A lot of students have after school activities to get to, so taking the bus isn’t an option for them,” Parker Stakoff ’14 said. “We don’t know whether or not after school activities will be cancelled in time to know whether or not to drive ourselves.”
Inklings attempted to reach the superintendent, but his secretary said there was no comment.
