Students pull into their usual parking spots on a typical dark school morning, most unaware of the ice underneath their tires and the hazard that awaits them if not careful.

According to Dean Greg Miller, most parking lots get dangerous during the winter season but how students handle these conditions is how they avoid causing damage to themselves and to others.

He believes newer drivers are usually the ones to accidentally slide their car into another or keep a close distance when driving behind others. He believes they underestimate how quickly parking lots freeze due to lack of experience driving during the winter season.

Senior Sadie Jones has been driving herself to school for a year and a half. While she has never been in a crash, her friends have gotten into minor accidents in the parking lot.

“I’ve always been careful when parking in the winter because I had friends drive me to school when I couldn’t and from that experience, I learned how dangerous the parking lot can be,” Jones said.

According to Miller, the City of Fishers does their best to prevent accidents by salting the sidewalks and parking lots before the first bell rings. He believes students just need to do their part by slowing themselves down.

Miller added that these incidents can cause a domino effect on other students. When one car gets into an accident, it can make others impatient and try to go around resulting in another accident.

“My advice to newer drivers is to go slow and take their time when turning,” Jones said. “Also try hard to not inch up so close to another car when behind them. So many people get frustrated when there are slow drivers when in reality they are just trying not to dent their car,” Jones said.