Students and teachers in the neighboring West Hempstead School District said goodbye to two seniors last week after they lost their lives in a horrific lunch time car accident. The students were killed when they went out for lunch with a third senior (who was badly injured) and struck a utility pole. According to police reports, it appears that the driver was speeding at the time of the accident.

Accidents such as this can be attributed in part to the school's open campus policy, which allows some students to leave during the day, including at lunch time. Most schools offer relatively short breaks for lunch, leaving a very limited amount of time to go and get food. Often the only way to get back to school in time is to rush, which is the very thing new drivers shouldn't be doing.

New York State Assemblyman Michael Gianaris has a bill in the state legislature that would ban allowing students to drive off campus during the school day. While there will undoubtedly be many students who will be very unhappy if this bill becomes law, we think it deserves serious consideration of our representatives.

What happened next door in West Hempstead could just as easily happen here.

Meg Morgan Norris