Winter is here, and with this comes the need for new student drivers to be extra careful while driving around the Hollis and Brookline back roads. As we have seen so far this year in terms of snowfall, there is no reason for drivers to get too comfortable behind the wheel.

Between the most recent three snowfalls, HB saw upwards of five students either spin out or crash their cars. One of these students, a junior, who didn’t want their name mentioned but commented on their accident said, “I was overconfident as I drove in the snow, my car had 4-wheel drive so I drove faster than I probably should have and I lost control.” Many students have this same problem. New drivers who haven’t been in any accidents are overconfident when driving in the snow.

On the Tuesday before winter break, it snowed in the morning and later turned into rain. School wasn’t cancelled and there was no early dismissal, so all of the student drivers and busses had to brave the unfavorable roads in order to get home. One of the Hollis Brookline physics teachers, Eric Perry, mentioned that “while driving home from school after it had been snowing and raining all day, I had to drive around multiple cars that had spun out and gone off the road, a few of which were HB students.”

New England has been seeing these frigid temperatures for some time now; being surrounded by below freezing and even below zero temperatures. A school counselor at HBHS, Mr. Winslow commented on the topic, saying, “new student drivers need to start being more careful and more mindful while driving around on the icy pavement, especially with with more snow storms and cold temperatures coming this winter.”

All in all, every driver needs to be careful during the winter time, but new high school drivers need to be extra focused while they drive in order to keep everyone around them safe.