The $91 left turn fine has been implemented at the front entrance and exit at BVN, which has forced changes to students’ routes after school. Senior Will Suh experienced the fine firsthand.
“ I got a ticket—$91,” Suh said. I pulled into the cul-de-sac with seven cars, and then he just gave me a ticket, talked about my tent [hood], and then it just came in the mail, and I had to get a lawyer to help my insurance keep the fine low.”
Senior Ruth Tan is an example of the unfavorable opinion on the left turn fine itself.
“It’s really unnecessary. I just think it just makes traffic flow worse,” Tan said.
Traffic flow around the front, which is the main entrance to the parking lot at North, is disrupted by the left turn fine from 2:30-3 p.m. according to Tan.
“[It’s] already really bad to get out of the parking lot, and there’s a lot of students who need to turn left in order to go home faster, and just taking that away just does not help,” Tan said.
Some students also need to pick up younger siblings who can’t yet drive to and from school.
“I know there are students who have siblings who go to those middle schools [LMS and OTMS] and they turn left, and it’s just faster that way,” Tan said. “It just takes up time.”
Even then, when asked if students were alerted about the fine, students at BVN did not expect the change, as Suh said.
“ No, but I knew about it later. A lot of people, I feel, didn’t really know a lot about it,” Suh said.
Tan also shared this idea, as she believed it had occurred during the school day.
“It was just day by day, and I thought ‘Oh, what the heck?’” Tan said. “I feel like it
[left turn fine] wasn’t there in the morning, and then they put it right in the afternoon.”
Tan expressed her confusion over the purpose of the new rule.
“I have no idea why they put that,” Tan said, “I think it just holds up students even more. Like, I don’t even know why you put that there.”
Although Suh seemed to disagree, saying that it could help prevent accidents.
“ It definitely helps prevent accidents. I know someone who had an accident last Friday. I think it [the fine] definitely helps,” Suh said.
In contrast, Tan’s observations suggest the new guidelines add to the traffic, rather than reducing the congestion.
“I remember one time I left right after school, there was a whole lineup of people. When you turned right at that traffic sign, there was a whole line of cars in the left turn lane because they couldn’t turn left outside of school. I had to sit there for so long. It’s been crazy,” Tan said. “It’s kind of annoying, but I guess there’s a little bit of a change. I usually wait after three, I guess I can just talk to my friends.”
Suh also shares this opinion, as he just has more time to talk with his friends.
“ I just wait until 3:05 p.m. I can just talk with my friends,” Suh said, “I just take a left anyway because otherwise, I have to take a right, then I have to take my sister home from OTMS.”
Even with the fine in place, not much at BVN has changed since then.
“I don’t know a single person who thinks that’s a reasonable rule,” Tan said, “Honestly, it hasn’t changed a whole lot. It’s not a major difference.”
