Increased concerns bring increased traffic safety measures to Conant

Unsafe driving in and around the Conant parking lot has led to increased patrols from the Hoffman Estates police.

In the last few months, Conant students may have noticed an increase in safety measures, including an increased police presence in the Conant parking lot. In late January, a student biker was hit by a car in the first parking lot. As a result, more safety measures have been enforced in the Conant campus area throughout February and March. These changes have been implemented by Detective Matthew Teipel, Dean of Students Zia Nathan, and other members of the Conant administration.

Measures taken in the first semester of this school year to ensure student safety include parking spot limitations and restrictions in the parking lots to limit extra traffic, student supervisors to help direct traffic during arrival and dismissal times, and illegalizing street-side parking to widen the streets. The school zone speed limit of 20 mph on Cougar Trail has been in place since before this school year, as per Illinois law.

New measures, in place since February, include placing obvious crosswalk signs, higher cones in the parking lot, increasing the number of student supervisors in the parking lots, and, most famously, placing traffic patrol on Cougar Trail. Also, during the week of March 18, Conant administration enforced a crackdown on illegal parking, warning students that after three offenses, their car will be towed.

Some students are not in favor of the traffic patrol in the campus area. Alexia Martinez ‘24, who says she got pulled over for speeding in a school zone on the first day the patrol was out on February 9, described her experience as “traumatic” because it was her first time getting pulled over. “I just really don’t think it’s fair at all,” she said. “I wasn’t the one that was going the fastest; I was going with the traffic.” 

Since many cars in the area consistently drive at around 40 mph (due to the speed limit before the school zone), even students who want to obey the speed limit may be forced to speed up to follow the flow of traffic. 

In regards to the traffic patrol, students are conflicted on their success in enforcing obedience to the speed laws.  “I don’t think the traffic patrol has been necessarily successful in increasing safety for students… I don’t really think it’s doing anything at all… The students will do whatever they want to do regardless,” said Martinez. “I think instead of pulling people over, just to have a cop car sitting on the street where you can see them… the students when they see it, they will slow down,” Martinez said. 

Asude Budak, ‘25, also said she thinks the patrol should not pull over as many people as they do, although they are a good protective measure. “I see them pull over students every morning they are out, and it feels like too much,” she said.

Teipel said the traffic patrol “try to be here all the time, as much as possible.” Teipel says within a 45-minute period for three days, February 9 to 13, there were 10 arrests for aggravated speeding (26 mph and over the speed limit) and 20 citations. “That’s a lot. That shows the concern,” he said. 

In response to student voices, Teipel said, “If there’s a problem in the area, don’t you think more police would eradicate the situation? We’re addressing it.” He also says he and the Conant administration have given parents and students a heads-up regarding the patrol via updates on Schoology and emails, but the speeding issue is still occurring.

In regards to general safety within the parking lots, Budak reports she doesn’t always feel safe in the parking lots. She says she witnessed an incident in the second student lot in which “a student was riding on the hood of a car while another student was driving it.” She and other students also say the drivers in the parking lots do not pay enough attention to pedestrians. 

To ensure safety, Teipel advises students to “drive slow, be cognizant, and expect the unexpected.” In order to avoid the morning and dismissal rush in the lots, Nathan says, “Get to school earlier and leave later to avoid crazy parking lot traffic.” 

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