U-turns are illegal on the entirety of Berry Street per city ordinance. This is because of things like what happened today, a four car crash that involved someone making an illegal u-turn, someone driving down the middle turn lane for longer than 200 feet to bypass traffic, which in itself is a violation, and two innocent bystander cars waiting for traffic to move on. This caused a huge pile-up of traffic and caused, no doubt, several students to be late.

Berry Street is a total free-for-all when it comes to driving laws. There are constantly cars stopped in the no stopping zones, cars making illegal u-turns on Berry Street, and if you’re a pedestrian, forget it. You might as well go back home before you get run over.

Show-offs present one of the biggest problems. Okay we get it, you have a 1999 Subaru WRX with the muffler removed and a huge useless wing on the trunk. That doesn’t change the fact that the speed limit is 25 mph and there are people walking around. Whipping your car around corners and revving your engine isn’t impressing anyone besides yourself. It’s just putting everyone else in danger.

Pedestrians largely have the right of way, unless jaywalking or crossing against a traffic control device. That being said, the crosswalks on Berry might as well not exist – cars constantly pass across the crosswalk when people are walking through them and almost nobody stops for people waiting to cross.

The amount of jaywalking is overwhelming; as I drive down Berry Street I have to exercise extreme caution in case someone runs out in between some parked cars into the street. Jaywalking is not only illegal, but foolish. The crosswalks here aren’t spaced that far apart and darting out into the street when drivers aren’t expecting it is very dangerous.

Don’t even get me started on parents picking the worst places to drop off their students. I understand that the pick-up and drop-off areas at RHS could use a great deal of work, but until we get the pick-up and drop-off zone we deserve, please don’t use the sidewalk, the center of the road, or no-stopping zones to drop of your student. This causes confusion and is unsafe for other drivers and the student you’re dropping off.

If you have to drop a student off I have a few suggestions:

One, avoid Berry Street as a drop-off or pick-up location.

Two, if you must pick-up or drop-off a student on Berry Street, use a parking spot in the Berry lot or Independence’s Lot.

Three, don’t make a u-turn.

I understand Independence’s lot is permit only, but there’s hardly anyone parked there in the mornings, leaving plenty of room for parents to load or unload somewhere legal and off the street.

If you can carpool, do it. The fewer cars we have driving on Berry Street the better. Not only is carpooling a great way to help the environment, but it also will help the situation of traffic around RHS. Ask your neighbors and friends if they want to carpool, and if you drive, offer the extra seats in your car to your friends and neighbors. Not only will that help traffic, but it will also help the parking situation.

If you drive to school, remind yourself to follow the laws of driving and common courtesy, even on Berry Street.

And if you get driven to school, remind your driver to follow the laws and use common sense.