AIBU about selfish arseholes parking on zigzag lines in front of school?

[lolaflores]

WHY do folk do this? Why do they do it even though there are endless signs around saying not to do it? How unspeakably stupid and selfish can a person be. Yesterday at my dds school there were about 9 cars top to tail on the zig zags. Happily, parking attendant zipped up and ticketed several.

Has any one successfully managed through the school or other means to get people to think about the safety of their own kids and others?

Grinding my teeth

Mine for one & we were here first..........

In the case of my dd's school parking on the zig zags happens at least once daily.
It is ,in this case not because there is inadequate parking (on road and church car park) it is because for the lazy thoughtless individuals it is easier for them to park on the zig zags instead of parking their car and walking for all of 20 seconds to the school.
Funnily enough their children are usually as arrogant and self absorbed as their parents.

bluelaguna why would anyone in their right mind advocate building a sodding great carpark for a school when it's only going to be in use for, what, an hour or so twice a day? And do you seriously think that would solve the problem? Would it bollocks.

We live next door but one to a school entrance/exit in a cul-de-sac. We can't use our drive between morning drop offs and afternoon pickups as selfish parents think its ok to block our access despite road markings......we don't have the benefit of zig zag markings btw .

We got a letter recently from mid beds council telling us that they have just bought an ANPR (automatic numberplate recognition ) van and will be driving past all the schools and sending out tickets automaticaly. That should stop it.

Tanith, can you get a friend to bring your children to the car, or get a friend to stay in the car with the autistic child while you collect? Yours sounds like a tricky situation, you may be able to access funding for one-to-one support for the autistic child during school runs from sure start, worth a try
Those who get to school half an hour beforehand to get a space, surely in most cases walking would be faster and less stressful, why do you put yourself through it? I live at the edge of a fairly large catchment area, just under a mile from the school, and it takes me 20 mins max to walk (with a 3yo in tow).
I cannot let my DD in Y3 walk to school alone due to the huge amount of traffic (ironically school traffic), so I walk with her most of the way.

I agree with most posters here, I can't stand the lazy so people outside the school I go to who simply cannot be bothered to walk far to get to school. Yet when I leave the school, I have to get 6 or 7 children (I'm a childminder) back to the car safely and this quite often means a longer walk. It's mad at our school (not sure if all are the same) and if you want a space that not a long walk away for the tired nursery children, you have to get there about 45 minutes before school finishes (but those parking right outside school will have been there even longer of course!)

I don't believe that it's because there are no "proper" parking facilities nearby. There are tons of other parents that manage to find suitable parking. Which leaves the other reason:

Because there is a group of people who believe that the rules don't apply to them. Arrogant self-important people that don't care about anyone but themselves.

And that, unfortunately, is just the way it is. I've called the traffic warden/pcso's in our area about it, as have a number of other people. Every now and then they come out and write tickets. A few really wretched offenders park far enough onto the pavement that they are blocking the pedestrian ways as well, practically mowing down children and parents when they arrive and leave. The school has mentioned it numerous times in their newsletters, but they cannot enforce as it's the roadway and not on school property.

But that being said, I get annoyed at the parents and children that walk right out in front of cars on their way to/from school as well. Or cross against the light on the crosswalk. You'd think they could take the time to teach their children a bit of road safety. I've had to stop my car numerous times in order to avoid running over someone that literally stepped out right in front of my (slowly) moving car in the roadway! This is why we try to walk most days, as I just cannot deal with the aggravation.

I've always done the school run on foot and it has often astounded me that people who live on my road, or nearer to the school than me, drive there. And what with all the traffic/parking malarky it takes them longer to arrive in the playground than I do!

There has been major issues with parking on the zig zags and the police do spend a lot of time enforcing the parking regulations, but still people do it.

That's crazy! I have no choice but to drive as the school is 5 miles away and in parts there are no pavements (plus would never be able to fit it in with my routines of children arriving/being collected etc. not to mention little ones would collapse in a heap!). Some people are incredibly lazy!

I hate this
I drive past the local primary and growl at the wankers.
I don't even have a child there.
but imo there is never an excuse

Riven - no idea but presume that is more for secondary school children? Also, it's not just my own children I have to take so I have to take them in myself. To be honest, a LOT of the children who attend that school are more than 3 miles away.

p.s. we do have a school in our own village, just lots of us choose not to use it.

Surely choosing not to use your local school makes your argument about having to drive redundant. You choose to drive 5 miles to send your child (and others) to a different school. Choosing "better" schools makes "failing" schools a self-fulfilling prophecy and if as you say lots of people do it, you're the cause of the problem with parking. If your local school is really that bad, why not help improve it?

Inmysparetime: thanks for your idea. I hadn't thought of asking for funding - I shall enquire... :)

Hellhasnofury: no buses :( Never have been to my knowledge, although the junior and secondary schools all have them, only one of the village infant schools do and it's not this one :(
Come to think of it, I don't think I've even seen a bus there. They must have one. Maybe it's one of those once-a-week services.

Ermmm, I haven't complained about the school and parking as such, just at how the lazy ones park right outside the gate and in a dangerous way. Yes I 'commented' on how the parking is crazy but I wasn't having a go, as you say I chose that :)

Sorry haven't read the whole thread, but our local council have just selected a few local schools (including ours) for a blitz on zigzag parking, so definitely worth contacting them (yourself or via your school's parent council).

I'm not really annoyed with you, it seems to be a common argument in my area though "I have to drive because pfb will get wet in the rain and dissolve " when taking the super early parking into consideration, most of the time they'd be faster walking. I admit some rural schools have large catchments, but the majority of primary school children should live within walking distance of school, so it's a pity so many people choose to drive.

That's ok, I can't stand people who drive to the local school who are more than capable of walking. I still walk probably the same distance as most do to their local school, just I have no choice but to drive there due to choosing a school that far away (my ds1 would have been eaten alive at the local school back then as was a bit of a whimp,bless him). And of course a lot of my business (before and after school care) is at that school but I see it as a car share type thing so I'm saving X number of extra parents driving (they'd all have to drive too if taking them themselves). As for getting wet - we regularly get soaked so it's not about that, just about the dangerous parking for certain lazy people who only have to get 1 child and can't even be bothered to go in and get them!

I have tried to work out the size of the car-parks which bluelaguna thinks schools should have.

Her solution only works if parents are sure they will find a space and be able to get in and out quickly and easily ? if not, they will ignore the car-park and stop outside the gates. So there must be as many spaces as likely users, wide access and egress aisles (no queueing to get in or out), wide visibility splays, and new lanes on the roads outside to allow cars to leave and join safely. No charges, of course, because that would take time.

It may be possible to use them at weekends or during the holidays to recoup some of the money invested in them; but they will have to be locked during the school day or at evening pick up time parents may find that others have parked there. In fact they will have to be locked during the night or commuters may get in before the parents do. Everyone arriving will need some sort of badge for the window.

And how many spaces? Take a primary school, three entrance classes, children there for six years, 450 children. Some no doubt siblings ? but others will be singletons as regards that school but have one or more siblings in other schools and therefore the car will use two places every morning and afternoon. Allow for some parents who will not use it in any event. A fair guess is 400 places.

Research at my local shopping centre suggests that spaces will need to be five by 3 metres; that makes 6000 square metres just for the bays. Add a quarter (and that is modest) for the wide aisles and access/egress routes and you get 7500 square metres.

Which is about a third as big again as a professional football pitch.

Secondary schools tend to be even bigger, but may have fewer children driven to school ? although if the car park is there the not-so-little darlings may expect a lift there too.

These are ball-park figures but they are in the right ball-park, and if anybody thinks providing car-parks at school is realistic, I can offer you some shares in the New Atlantic Bridge Company, and they must be all right because they are underwritten by Lehmans and Barings!

You haven't factored in school nursery classes either, they often have half day sessions so would need spaces round lunchtime too.

Well - I could have walked to school in the mornings, but I would then have to walk back again, collect my car and drive to work. Which would make me at least half an hour late for work every morning, unless of course I left dd on the pavement outside school for half an hour until the gates opened. I wouldn't have been prepared to do that at primary school.

I compromised by parking 2 streets away and walking her into school very, very fast. I am not sure how I would have managed if there was no parking at all in the surrounding streets though.

I would NEVER park on the zigzags.

Thank you inmysparetime - just shows how long it is since this was my problem. Although as the nursery my DS went too was across the road not even the most self-entitled member of MN (God Almighty, just how self-entitled is that person?) would have thought it necessary to drive. I think.