What is it about driving near a primary school that turns people into complete assholes?

[EverybodyLangClegTonight]

I’m so fed up of the selfish dangerous driving every single day at pick up. I pick up from two schools. One has a car park, one doesn’t. The one with car park has people just stopping their cars where they like, sometimes in the middle of the entrance because they’ve spotted their child and just decided to wait there and block the entry and exit causing a pile up in both directions. People parking across two or even 4 spaces. People parking completely over the path the kids use to exit the school.

The school without car park is bedlam. Tiny residential street meaning traffic can only go one lane. Some drivers feel this is inconvenient and mount the pavement and give you death stares if you happen to be on the pavement where they want to mount it. I know of people who have actually been hit by Cars mounting the pavement to avoid the queue of traffic.

It’s disgusting. What is wrong with these people?

WIBU to start filming these drivers and sending it to the police? Would the police even be interested?

It’s because their children are more important. Get the traffic wardens out!

I’m sure you’ll have hundreds of posters saying that people who do this are selfish, arrogant, inconsiderate...etc

At the point I’m going to emphasise that I am not one of the people who does or did this, my kids are past primary anyway.

However this is a recurring problem. It’s been going on years. I do think that it is stupid to not have a car park/quick and convenient drop off zone for a primary school and expect people to walk from a few streets away. People won’t and don’t. For so many reasons, but the fact is that for years, they have not and they will not, regardless of their particular reason. This has been proved by what goes on every day up and down the country. Easy, convenient parking is needed. Otherwise you get what the OP describes.

Too much is squashed into small spaces. Parking has to be found/constructed or this continues indefinitely.

Does your police force still have PCSOs? Ask for one/some to attend for an 'enforcement' day.

If you're one of the forces that don't have PCSOs anymore, phone 101 and ask for the email address of the Beat Manager, SNT Sgt or Response Sgt for that area and request they do a morning of enforcement. Or ask if the local Special Constables would like to attend as part of their training (they have full police powers).

Or go to the next council meeting for that area and bring it up to the attending police officer as a priority for the next agenda.

Easy, convenient parking is needed.

But one of the schools I described does have a car park. It’s more than adequate for the number of cars. It’s rarely full. But still there is dangerous driving in it and inconsiderate parking. People just stopping dead at the entrance to wait for their child, sticking their hazard lights on and basically telling everyone they can just wait. When they could very easily pull in forward and turn into one of the designated parking spaces.

Thank you bobby that’s really helfpful. I’m not sure if we have PCSOs but i’ll Find out.

It's nuts! There's some kind of force that compels parents to park as close to the gates as possible, even if this means parking on the pavement, across the zebra crossing, blocking someone else in or just stopping and putting your hazards on. I saw all of the above outside DS's old primary.
The ridiculous thing was that there was a car park a short walk (and I mean like 2min) away which was never full but people just would not use it. I don't really understand why, other than this bizarre compulsion to be right next to the gate.

I am really not sure what the answer is! A total ban of cars stopping within 100m of a school entrance? But then, people would still do it anyway as who would police it?!

It's the mother bear syndrome that emerges near learning institutions. You see it again at Uni open days, parents asking questions out loud rather than putting their hands up, and asking questions which are only relevant for their sprog.

I have no choice but to drive to school- I live a couple of miles out if town, kids allocated a school in the centre of town. School has been there around 100 years. It's a very narrow road. Due to one way system in town, I have t drive past the school, to the other end of the road (200m) to find a safe place to park- that's fine, i enjoy the exercise. But the hold ups caused by the dangerous parking as people try to get close to the gate us amazing... But as I said the other end of the road is nearly empty.
The mad thing is, the catchment area is around half a mile. We only go there as it was the only place available for my 6yo when we moved, we drive past 4 schools.

Personally I wod support a one way system around the school to make it safer.

My DC’s school is also utter bedlam. Everyone parks on the double yellows and in the bus stop directly outside of school because they can’t be bothered walking a tiny bit further. Double parking also happens so literally will have a row of two parked cars side by side on the double yellows and in the bloody bus stop. So much law breaking it’s untrue. The trouble is, the only other parking options are a tiny residential street which is full about half an hour before school starts and ends or a block of flats on the other side with numbered parking spots. Neither are sensible options.

The school has an extremely short lived initiative last year to try getting people to park more sensibly. Traffic wardens turned up twice I think so obviously everyone parked elsewhere when they were there but went back to normal the next day. Tbf, parents asked the head teacher where they were actually supposed to park and he suggested the supermarket car park up the road but they charge to park!

I dont Think its driving near a school that turns you into an arsehole i think its having a car in general that makes you lazy and entitled.

People seem to be prepared to walk further in their own houses/gardens than they are from car to venue.

People think the rules don't apply to them. There's no excuse. There are plenty of parents who drive to my DC's school who drive when they don't need to. They don't work so aren't going on anywhere afterwards. No one lives far away because the over subscription means the distance away from school is always short.

The ones who do work need to leave the house a few minutes earlier so they can park near the school but not on its doorstep where they cause problems for people living there and families walking down a street where cars are mounting the kerb.

People can be very selfish.

I would advocate the police having powers to breathalyse drivers outside schools in the morning, as I expect the possibility of being over the limit with wine consumed the previous night would stop some people driving.

Much of it I think is just bad driving that happens to be outside or near a school. In my opinion about 25% of drivers should not have a licence at least.

In a nutshell, a lot of people are pure LAZY arses who don't want to leave a bit earlier, park a bit further away and walk.

In a nutshell, a lot of people are pure LAZY arses who don't want to leave a bit earlier, park a bit further away and walk

They do leave earlier though. Like an hour/45 mins early to ensure they get the space so they dont have to walk nore than three feet to the gate.

It's a case of people thinking their journey is the most important. I live right beside a primary school mornings are ok as there's a staggered start but soon afternoons it's chaos! At DD's school rather than stopping on the yellow zigzag some people park next to them this blocking that side of the road.
Some schools in our borough have school streets and the sooner it's rolled out to more the better.

I live up a small cul de sac with a primary school at the top end. It has a very small catchment area, and parents are repeatedly told to not drive up the road (about 100 metres long), but to park on the wider road at the bottom and walk. Obviously a proportion don't - they bump up the kerb/grass. I can't believe the amount that drive when they should live within about a radius of a 5 minute walk.

In my area the catchment zone is so tiny and yet we have that issue. Just flags either people can't be arsed to walk 5 mins or they have lied about their home location

Our schools catchment area is 0.4 miles yet every fucking day it’s chaos, people barging parked cars to block the road other cars just pushing out, cars on the pavement. People parking their cars at 1430 walking home then walking back to collect their kids so they don’t have to walk. Like their kids will dissolve in fresh air

People parking their cars at 1430 walking home then walking back to collect their kids so they don’t have to walk. Like their kids will dissolve in fresh air

You get that too usually the same people who shove a packet of crisps or a brioche or something in their hands on collection cos the poor buggers haven't eaten in 2 hours.

I spent my career in teaching and at once stage, was an advisory teacher. I never saw one school where parking was ok. I’ve seen the drivers of cars going in opposite directions square up to each other because neither would give way.

There are endless complaints at our local primary. People block residents, Rev engines, park in no parking zones and so on.

Every school I’ve ever had dealings with, sends out regular letters about courtesy and consideration. None of it makes any difference. There is an argument that primary age children should be able to walk to school. Then people will say that they have to drop their children off on the way to work.

I don’t know what the answer is, but it will only get worse everywhere if something doesn’t happen.

I do think that it is stupid to not have a car park/quick and convenient drop off zone for a primary school and expect people to walk from a few streets away.

Parking has to be found/constructed or this continues indefinitely.

The school round the corner from me has been there since before motor cars were invented. It's surrounded by housing. Short of demolishing half the street, where exactly is space for a car park to be found?

At the people parking cars and walking home and back again.

I do think that it is stupid to not have a car park A lot of primary schools were built many decades ago when people didn't drive their children to school - they walked, and so did many of the staff. There might be space for a small car park for the Head and a few others but that's all.

People would drive into the classroom if they could. It's the same at the supermarket: people park in the most ridiculous places just so they don't have to walk more than a few feet. I saw someone parked in the trolley bay once!

I did take a photo of a dickhead parked on the raised crossing outside my dc's school a while ago and reported it to the police. 15 minutes after I made the call they rang me back to say the car had gone but that they'd go to their house and tell them off. Other people still park there though.

Either the space is found for ample, decent, close parking, or, as demonstrated by what happens every day, the situation continues. I did acknowledge that too much stuff was in a small space. Perhaps the school needs relocating if there isn’t space. Maybe you think that’s drastic and expensive. It is. But the alternative is the mayhem continuing.