Parking spaces are a commodity for students, and the more students there are living on campus, the harder it is to get a good parking spot when you come back from a late shift at work. Since Colorado Mesa University’s housing was at 99 percent capacity at the beginning of the year, it is going to be even harder to find a parking space.
Until Colorado Mesa University (CMU) can develop new spaces for parking lots, there are a few things that can be done to somewhat alleviate the tension that parking struggles can cause. There are some solutions that are not practical, and should be avoided, but there are a few ways that students can work amongst themselves and solve the problem temporarily.
One of the most important things about proper parking lot etiquette is safety. When pulling into a parking lot, speed is not wholly necessary. That is for both entering and exiting the lot, but also when it comes to taking a parking space. If there is someone backing out of a space, they cannot see you as easily as you can see them. There is no need to push forward and make it harder for them to back out of their space.
In that same scenario, if there is more than one car waiting for a spot, whoever has been waiting for the spot the longest gets it. We have all been in that situation at the grocery store waiting for a spot while someone backs out, only to have another car swoop in at the last second and steal it from us. It’s aggravating when this happens and it is also rather unsafe.
That speed that some drivers use to steal parking spaces at the last minute also tends to be used for navigation of the parking lot. There are countless examples of that one car that peels through a parking lot, ignoring the painted lines and moving far too fast to be safe. There is no need for speed in the lots outside the residence halls on campus. No one is happy when they get cut off in a parking lot by a speedy driver who ignores the lines, and you wouldn’t want it to happen to you either.
Moving away from safety, but still just as important, is courtesy. It can be frustrating for drivers to come across a car sitting in a space, in reverse while the driver holds down the brakes and looks through their phone or answers emails. While it is far less safe to do all of those things on the road, it is rather rude to make someone wait, and possibly give up their chance at a parking spot.
Every student on this campus has had to suffer through trying to find a parking spot in a full lot this year. With midterms coming up soon, and finals a few weeks beyond that, we are all starting to stress about all of that. We shouldn’t be worried about trying to navigate a parking lot too. Parking lot etiquette is a simple solution to a problem that can cause a lot of unnecessary stress.
