Parents Are Waiting Hours In Their Cars To Pick Their Kids Up From School, Completely Blocking Traffic In The Process
It affects locals, parents, and even first responders.
dimaberlinphotos | Canva Pro School pickup and drop-off lines have become ubiquitous with pop culture jokes in recent years for good reason. They are a war zone of entitlement and parents racing to be first. Case in point: parents picking up their kids at Eaton Elementary and North Middle School in Loudon County, TN. In an effort to be first in the schools' massive lines, parents are arriving hours ahead of time, and as a result, traffic is backing up on local highways and streets, causing literal gridlock.
These long lines aren't just a nuisance for local drivers either. They have quite literally become dangerous since emergency vehicles cannot easily access the local roads and highways. School officials say the problem has been growing over the past decade, primarily due to the increasing population, but also because fewer parents allow their children to use the school-supplied buses.
Parents trying to be first in line at pickup are causing major traffic gridlock in Loudon County, TN.
WBIR reported on the traffic, which has become more than simply a nuisance. It's affecting residents who don't even have children enrolled in the schools. In a recent TikTok, WBIR reporter Sam Perez explained, "Until recently in Loudon County, Tennessee, some parents were getting to campus as early as 10:30 in the morning." She went on to say that they were parking and waiting nearly five hours just to be the first in line to pick up their kids at 3 in the afternoon. "It got to the point where some parents were ordering DoorDash and Uber Eats to their car as they waited," she added.
But that didn’t last long. The school tried to fix the issue by closing off the entrance so parents couldn’t drive in. The problem? Traffic started piling up outside on two highways and a local county road. And it’s not just parents picking up their kids who are affected.
70% of their student population is picked up and dropped off by parents and guardians.
North Middle School Principal Kayla Vaughn told WBIR, "We currently operate 14 buses to serve our campus, which includes nearly 1,400 students between our two schools." The problem, however, is that those buses must be virtually empty because the sheriff’s office told the news outlet that its school resource officers estimate nearly 1,100 students are dropped off and picked up daily. That's estimated to be about 70% of the student population.
"It’s literal gridlock in every direction," said Aleisha Gamble, a local resident who often has to drive through the school’s waiting routes. She explained that it’s extremely frustrating. “There'll be people already lined up at 1 o'clock, 1:30 in the afternoon. They'll park in people's driveways. They'll stop in the middle of the road and just park. There's cones and signs everywhere and they just run over the cones or park by the cones,” Gamble said. “The gridlock is just beyond frustrating, and just the incapacity to be able to go and do your things and come back without having to fight traffic, being aggravated, waiting, and then, you know, taking the oncoming traffic.”
The problem also creates risks for first responders. "All of that congestion creates a huge safety concern of being able to effectively get emergency first responders to the scene of any type of incident," said Chris Hutchens, a deputy chief who has worked with the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office for 15 years. He added that traffic in the area has been a persistent issue for as long as he can remember.
Even though kids don’t get out until 3 p.m., parents are already lining up outside by 1 p.m. Because of this, locals feel frustrated and aggravated and struggle to complete their daily tasks. Deputy Chief Hutchens even recalled one of his deputies being T-boned while responding to a 911 call during traffic congestion. Thankfully, the driver wasn’t hurt, and the deputy only suffered minor injuries, but the incident highlights just how serious the safety concerns have become.
School traffic seems to be a problem everywhere.
Slava Dumchev / Shutterstock
Although the situation in Loudon County may sound extreme, it's not unique. In Jacksonville, for instance, residents have complained that traffic gets significantly worse once kids return to school. One person noted that their commute now takes much longer simply because classes are back in session.
Teachers have also shared their perspectives. One wrote on Reddit that they cannot understand why some parents arrive at school as early as 12 p.m. when dismissal is not until 3 p.m. Based on the story we just discussed, we know why, but the teacher still found it strange that parents would choose to wait for hours, no matter what.
What's even more baffling is why so many parents forego using the school buses as a solution. Could it be that kids don't want to get up earlier or get home a little later because of bus routes and schedules? It's hard to say, but there's no denying that each kid getting picked up and dropped off daily isn't the solution. What's truly baffling is how many parents actually have 5 hours to sit in a car and just wait every day? That sounds like a problem most working families cannot afford.
Matt Machado is a writer studying journalism at the University of Central Florida. He covers relationships, psychology, celebrities, pop culture, and human interest topics.
