By James Riswick
Assistant Opinions Editor
To the person in the white Mercedes-Benz ML320 who parked three inches from my car … learn how to park! Or at least, learn how to respect other people’s cars. If you’re going to have a sport utility vehicle, or any other car for that matter, at least learn how to maneuver it into a parking spot. I never want to get into my car from the passenger side again.
Sadly, however, you’re not the only inadequate parker out there in the nether regions of Rho parking lot. It seems a majority of Pepperdine students are either just terrible parkers or simply could not care less about other people’s cars or even their own.
Rho parking spots are small enough without inept drivers cramming their vehicles unnecessarily close to the car next to them at ridiculous angles. I like the paint on my car thank you very much. I also like not having to contort my body into bizarre positions in order to get into the driver’s seat of my car.
One of the complaints I consistently here from students is the total lack of parking on campus. I’m not going to disagree. I don’t like coming back on a weekday after 9 p.m. only to find I have to park somewhere between right field and the track.
But for now, instead of whining and complaining about the lack of a multi-story parking garage, why doesn’t everyone just take the time to learn how to park their cars? It’s not that hard to do, even if you have to painstakingly maneuver your Chevy Suburban into a compact-only size space — which they all are in Rho!
But, it’s not just the people in monstrous sport-utes making the parking situation unbearable. It’s just as equally the person in the Ford Escort or the Honda Civic that go in at a 40-degree angle. Or decide to take up two spots. Or swing their doors haphazardly into the car next to them. Or decide to park three inches from a certain Graphic writer’s car!
Knock it off! No one should be in that much of a hurry. Taking 20 seconds to re-park is no big deal.
Students shouldn’t be that careless with their most expensive piece of property. Or at least my most expensive piece of property.
Pepperdine’s driving woes certainly don’t end at the parking lot, though. Ever since the controversial parking meters went in, traffic on Dorm Road has increased dramatically. This is a good thing and I’ve taken advantage of this several times. But people are abusing the newly opened road.
First of all, the speed limit posted on Dorm Road is five mph. Okay, so that’s totally stupid. I break that everyday when I walk back from class. But I think we could probably find a happy medium between five and the 45 many drive around Dorm Road — particularly at night.
I’m just waiting for the day when a skateboarder meets the bumper of a speeding car outside my window, sending the unsuspecting guy flying towards the track.
To make matters worse, many drivers seem to forget that Dorm Road is a one-way street. Get that? One way! Dorm Road isn’t exactly Sunset Boulevard people; it’s not that long. How lazy are you if you can’t drive around for an extra minute or two?
That also goes for Public Safety mobiles. I don’t recall any great emergencies on campus that would have required your Ford Escapes to go barreling the wrong way down lower dorm road.
If driving 45 mph down the wrong way of a one way street doesn’t seem idiotic enough to you, it gets worse. Instead of splurging and throwing those 25 cents into the parking meter, people pull their cars into dorm walkways apparently thinking they can park there for free.
Hello! That’s like pulling onto the sidewalk in Santa Monica thinking you won’t have to pay for parking. The truth is, if everyone continues to drive like complete imbeciles on Dorm Road, the university is just going to shut it down again without thinking twice.
I know this may be asking a lot, but could you all just take some time and care about the way you drive?
Just slow down a bit, go the right way and try staying parallel within the parking lines. It’s really not that hard, and both my car and I would thank you.
February 14, 2002