School drop off C U next Tuesdays

One thing I would do if I got a time machine would be to go back to 1885 when the motorcar was invented, and get it written into law in an unassailable, non-repealable way, that no motor vehicle may be parked on public land that is within 50 metres of any building except for police, fire and ambulance vehicles. All parking must be on private land specifically dedicated for the purpose unless e.g out on a moor where you aren't causing an obstruction. Over the past 140 years our entire culture has accepted the notion that it is reasonable for people to leave a ton of metal to clutter up the public highway, and when it was only the richest 1% that could afford a vehicle that didn't matter, but now that there are half as many cars as there are people, and each car takes up as much space on the riad as 10 people, the whole public sphere is sp dominated by these lumps of metal and leaving no room for people. If that had never been considered reasonable, all hubs of busy people's lives would automatically either be built with sufficient off-road parking or served by sufficient non-car transport options. Because people know that they can, entirely legally, leave their ton of metal in public spaces without a care, they have structured their choices of home, job and schooling for their children to make it absolutely imperative that they exercise that right.

Try being a person who lives close to a school. (And yes, the school was there when we moved, but has doubled in size since we've lived here).

Parents just DON'T CARE. All that matters is getting their child as close as humanly possible to the school gates as god forbid they have to walk. Parking over driveways, double parking, blocking people in - all fair play and if challenged it's always "i'll only be a minute".

Schools have zero power over this style of twattery, they can send out polite letters reminding parents to park with consideration, but they are usually ignored. Police have bigger fish to fry and cannot be outside every school twice a day.

Every parent has an excuse, every parent has a (usually rubbish) reason about how they can't possibly walk or park further away and walk because they are SO BUSY or so important and yadda yadda yadda. The truth is many of them could absolutely walk or park further, they just don't want to.

HumerousHumous

Madness. Why can’t kids be walked to school.

I drop dh to train, then drive to a secondary, then primary, then go into work. I’ve always parked a little far away because it’s easier to walk to the gate then get through the ridiculousness of the cars at the school gates!!

We live behind a secondary school and from 8:30-9,3-4pm,it's insane

We've had people parking almost outside our front gate (just enough so we can't use it),on our drive or on the pavement and if you try to say something,you get a mouthful

I don't drive (dp does) and if I've been on the early shift at work,I'm back just after 3 (hes back around half 4 and misses it)

I have to get off the bus and play chicken just to walk down the street (the amount of times I'm forced to walk on the road,into the face of any other traffic,as there is no space on the pavement) and if I'm lucky,there will be enough room to squeeze through my gate

When I was at secondary,it was a cold day in hell when your parent picked you up,you walked there and back in all weather's,it was the done thing

We have tried to speak to the school but nobody is bothered

Best laugh is,the school have a massive car park but as it's a bit tight to move in when it's full of school kids,the parents park in our street-i just wish they'd be considerate to us who live here

Honestly, school drop off parking gives me the absolute rage. There's a school near us that parents can drive in to and drop their kids off - but loads of them park up, blocking the drop off zone so then there's massive queues of cars waiting to turn in (you often see what are clearly teachers sitting in the queues) that then causes chaos on the roads around. That and the fact that people are parked on all the side roads - and there's currently a load of roadworks going on so their parking is often making it incredibly difficult for people to actually drive down the roads.

My childrens' school has two fairly large (free) public car parks less than a five minute walk away - the school send out endless messages asking people to use them and so few people do. Would seemingly prefer to block driveways, park/drive dangerously, stop directly outside the school causing queues of traffice, etc. rather than do a 10 minute walk to school and back.

Well there are four schools within about 3/4 mile of us, three primaries and a large secondary. We literally (and I'm using the word correctly) don't go out between 2:45 and 4:00 unless it's unavoidable. Parents are parking an hour before school lets out in order to get a space on the local roads (usually half on the pavement). It's insane. These kids seem incapable of walking, and any spot of rain doubles up on the chaos. It's clearly got worse year on year since we moved here twenty odd years ago. But unless someone actually gets injured by a car, nothing changes*.

*It took a child being hit by a car for a crossing to be put in. It took two years.

Mine are now young adults thank god but yes it has always been like this. We had the police called and a Jeremy Kyle type scene outside ours where the driver of an Audi blocked a home owners driveway - owner came home and Audi woman would not move. It was a one way system so the cars just backed up when owner did not move aside and neither did Audi woman. It all got racist as the Audi woman was Indian decent and home owner white - a fight ensued between the groups whilst the rest of the normal folk stood aghast. Teachers tried to intervene but the police had to split them up in the end.

Audi woman was parked over the drive again the very next day.

Agreed with your post, but just say cunt, FFS.

Thanks for explaining what C U nect Tuesday is. I genuinely had no idea what it meant. Never heard it before.

When I was fresh out of uni I rented a flat with a driveway on the same road as a primary school. It was awful. My car was constantly blocked in, not just during the week but also on the weekends as the school rented out their facilities for ballet classes etc. As soon as the 6 months was up I was out of there.

Years later me and DH found our dream house. It was gorgeous and I loved it but it was opposite a primary school and I knew it would be awful so we let it go to some other family to battle the inevitable inconsiderate parents.

The school can contact Traffic Wardens and ask them to attend occasionally. News that people have been ticketed will soon spread. (Sadly, the selfish, entitled behaviour returns very quickly when the Warden disappears.)

I would put those stop cameras up like they have at airports - instant 100 fine for anyone stopping within a mile radius of the school, unless they are a resident.

We live within walking distance, 10mins, to our primary school. It's a pit village, a victorian school surrounded by terraced houses. Parking is atrocious. School/LA built some park and walk car spaces which are NEVER used, always empty as parents fight to get closer.
They block access/view to the main road and by the school they park on the pavements which means those walking have to walk out on the road.
One day lady pulled ip as we were on the pavement , as she got out she opened the door(on the pavement) for her kid to get . When I pointed out how unreasonable this was as we had to stop, she said 'but if I dont let them out THIS side then they have to get out on the road!!' I actually laughed at her and said oh but 'its OK to make other people's kids walk on the road, as long as yours are safe!? How bloody ignorant can you be?!' I was polite because there were so many kids about but I was SO.pissed off.

I used to teach at a small village primary. Every point in the village could be at school in 10 mins. I do get that some people drop off and then head straight off to work so are in the car.
Every school had to do a transport survey to see how kids get to school. Approx 80% of ours came in cars with the majority of parents dropping off, not in.work. It must have taken longer to get them in the car, drive down to school, find a space, park, get them and their gear out and walk over to school. Never understood it.

All as bad as each other and from my own perspective, they are welcome to it. I got involved once with a dangerous situation with parking around a school bus pick up point where i ended up in an argument with one of these idiots who not only was making it difficult and dangerous for children crossing the road but was blocking the path for parents pushing pushchairs. Not a single other person backed me up, in fact they turned their backs whilst holding their pushchairs. My children are way past school buses now but i sent a letter to the school pointing out how dangerous this parking situation is for the bus, the children and the parents. It wasnt even acknowledged.

Although i dont wish hurt on any child, i would not give a parent, a child (of a parent who drives in) or a parents car a second thought if something happened. Its just a race to the bottom for them all.

Solution is to make children attend nearest school regardless of anything else. No if's or buts. It would improve schools, it would remove so many having to drive, it would give children time and make them fitter.

Well he’s only 6 so it involves her getting out the car, crossing the road with him and taking him to the gate. So I guess that’s parking even if for a short time.

Madness. Why can’t kids be walked to school. I guess some are then driving into work but for goodness sake be sensible.

I do have to question a school that allows 5 year olds to be dropped at the gate - as per the OP? Don’t schools require them to be handed over in the playground. Would be a safeguarding concern surely?

Dropping off on double yellows? Annoying, irritating, frustrating, but actually totally legal.

Exactly the same problem at our primary too. I’ve mentioned it to the head multiple times but I know she would rather have people parking on the pavement and yellow line dangerously, than have a bunch of complaints from the local residents having their driveways blocked.

My kids school is inner city and the school sent soooo many emails about this, signs outside the school that people would park between. A HUGE banner that said ‘don’t be selfish, don’t park here, you could kill a child’ nothing stopped them. In the end the school applied for permission from the council to close the street to cars during drop off and pick up. Unbelievable it had to come to that but some people really are selfish fuck wits.

Yes it’s a madness op. I used to live near a secondary school and it was the same! Even though all kids were 11 and older - no the parents had to park right outside the bloody gates! 2 minutes away was a massive road with no parking restrictions and no houses but no - they had to get as close as possible. I often had rows with people who’d parked over my drive.

The people who simply must park as close to the school as possible, and don’t give a shit about anyone else, I’m guessing.

We walk in all weathers. We are close (7 mins) but still people who live the same distance drive. They put double yellow lines down and people now park the other side of the double yellow lines on the grass!

This has been an issue for a long time now. I have been a school governor on and off for 35 years when my children were at primary school and we were talking about it then
It's a result of increased pace of life, parents having to drop children at different schools then dash off to get to work on time and the fact that schools are now often surrounded by intensive housing
Not an excuse for twatish behaviour but there's no easy solution. You could ask your local PCSO to have a presence for a few days. That sometimes improves things for a while 😏

I used to walk my sons to school in all weather. School was a ten minutes walk but the parents who always had to park next door....my son was nearly run over as some selfish bint decided to do a 3 point turn in the school gates! Got a right telling off from me....

Who the fuck are the 15% of readers who think the poster is being unreasonable? Some mumsnetters never fail to astound me with their ignorance and self entitlement.