To think that parents on the school run are the most selfish and entitled driver on the roads?

[MintyChapstick]

There's is a big debate locally to where I live regarding school run parents and the chaos they cause when going to either pick up or drop off their kids at school. It mainly concerns the primary school a few streets away from me where residents have been complaining that school run parents are blocking driveways etc and then when challenged have been saying things like "oh its only for a few minutes". Knowing the area as well as I do I know that most families are within a short walk of the school, so why do they even needs to ferry their kids back and forth in a car?

I happen to work at another local school that has a sign on the gates saying that car park is for staff and taxis only, but due to parents ignoring it the headteacher now has to go out and stand in front of the gates to prevent parents using it. The roads outside are a nightmare, and I feel sorry for the people who live there. Its like there's a sense of entitlement that because they are either dropping off or picking up rh their children from school they can park wherever they like.

AIBU to think that a lot of school run parents are really entitled and selfish?

Some are but white van drivers are worse

There's a secondary by us with a catchment area of 900m. This morning on my way back from nursery I counted 42 parents parked badly outside the school. At least three tried to pull out on me without indicating and immediately began driving at 30mph in a 20 zone.

I have absolutely not idea why so many girls who live less than 1km from school would need a lift on a perfectly fine day. It must take almost as long to get in the car and negotiate all the other shit drivers as it would to walk.

In my area the driving instructors advise when booking your driving test that you don't do it during the school run as passes are very, very rare due to the unpredictable nature of parents who've realised they may be late.

My son was recently given that advice too.

We have a school nearby and the parking is horrendous. It's not even deemed to be a good or outstanding school with people coming from miles around. I saw the problems for myself for the first time yesterday after reading an article in the local paper about it. I had some twat mother open a car door onto me as I squeezed past on the tiny bit of footpath that the driver had left for pedestrians to walk on. The most ridiculous thing was that when I turned the corner onto another street a car pulled onto a drive which was probably not more that 200 yards away from the school and a child from there got out. I know they live there because I recognise the car. Fucking crazy.

double yellows are being put all along the residential streets near out primary. we have PCSO's, traffic wardens and the police do walk downs the street and slap tickets on cars. One day I counted 8 parking fines. 4 of them on a bloody bus stop!

Our school puts reg plates of illegal parkers in the newsletter and they are reported to police.

Headteacher often comes out too and he has been the one to help residents pester the council for the double yellows around the school. He sees it as a safety issue.

This week alone he has been out directing parents to use the lollipop man not cross 50 yards up the road where its dangerous and makes the traffic worse. Parents hate it but its only 1 minute walk if that from the top entrance to the lollipop man and they still wont use the safe crossing.

Oh, and we live almost 3 miles away from my son's secondary school but he walks there and back every day, whatever the weather, so it can be done!!
We always have walked though as I don't drive - the closest we've lived to a school is half a mile away and that was an infants school.

there are loads of parents round here, who come 45+mins early, and park and wait, i wouldnt mind, but its a small village with loads of parking around the roads -

How can a 3/4 minute walk make you that much later for work?

YANBU

I live one street away from the local primary - no cars what so ever. Turn the corner on to the country lane the school is on and they are parked on the pavement. I had a row with a woman when I was 5 weeks post c section and couldn't get my pram past. She said I was being precious not wanting to walk in the road. We also get the football brigade (home and away) at the weekend.

My parents have it worse. They have been in a house for 43 years opposite the school I went to. I could name you right now every kid who was driven to school as they numbered 7 or 8 if that. In fact I could tell you their cars! What's changed is 'choice' in schools, local authority school bus services (either gone or £800 a year near me for secondary) and of course work patterns.

I always walk DD to daycare. Well walk or bike or drag her in a sledge if its snowy.

The big school here is quite far away from the main area of town (2km from the main crossroads and up to 4 or 5km from the further residential areas), up a big hill, but most of the kids still walk or ride their bikes - no laziness tolerated here!

I also live near a primary school that has rapidly expanded and choose my coming home time with care. I do work but go before the parents arrive.

If I want to turn into my road on coming home you have to give way due to parked cars which is fair enough but those mums/dads who keep coming up then block way for anyone else to come down. Even when some kind soul let me through a dad overtook her. Unbelievable I'm on school run so I'm more important mentality.

I live outside a school which was recently rebuilt. They moved the main entrance to our street, created a through road with a drop off bay, and an exit on the main road where access used to be.

Unfortunately, the drop off zone is on a hill, so parents who can't be bothered to walk up it park in the school car park and on my street. My street is only 6 houses long and the road is tiny, one lane open when cars are parked. It is also permit only but few of those parking at school time display an area permit, and all of them keep their engines running.

I and every other parent has to walk through the smog of six or seven cars and it is disgusting. It is illegal to run engines outside school gates, but the council haven't sent out any traffic wardens despite promising the school they would do so.

I don't agree these people are short of time, poor folk who have no choice but to be incredibly entitled. They are just selfish people who think that they and their children should be prioritised above the safety and comfort of everyone else.

callie I noticed that here too. I had to go to school for a 2pm meeting and there were parents sat in cars reading just so they could get the best spots closest to school! It pissed me right off because it meant that I wouldn't get a spot if I needed one even with a legitimate reason to be there at 2pm. School closes at 3:30 so they would be sat there for an hour and a half. Its madness. There is a free carpark but no one wants to use it because its a bit awkward to get into (off a main road, a side road then another side road rather than straight of the main road)

Have to disagree; middle aged men (50 - 70) are the worst. Hog the middle lane, completely neglect any form of indication, drift in and out when overtaking, sit in the outside lane with cruise set at 67, never let you through gaps, block entrances and exits of junctions just so no one else can push in front of them.

And I live opposite a school.

I'd love to walk, unfortunately the walk there is down a NSL country road with no path. A double buggy and a six year old wouldn't really be ideal.

I usually get to school a fraction earlier so I can park that's too small for the school sometimes I park on the road though as I struggle getting both toddlers out and in to the pram. --because someone has parked too far over usually-

We do have standoffs but they're usually quite polite ones though I have seen a couple which got heated. Usually it's when two cars meet down one side of the road and they don't want to reverse.

I was coming up the road (my right of way) and met a car halfway, I stood still for a moment but then I could see her going crazy and throwing her arms up in the air and dangling her keys. Fuck dealing with that at 8:30 in the morning. I reversed. And she gave me a smug grin as she passed. Cow. still irritates me, can you tell?

The worst is when someone pulls I'm to let a car through and the car behind them goes to overtake them thinking they've just randomly stopped even though their positioning/indications suggest otherwise. Can they not see?!

In not I'm.

OP we too have had a letter home this week! Parents are a nightmare but the problem is generally to do with where schools are nowadays, on busy residential areas with limited parking - as you can see from this thread the problem is far and wide. As to what car people drive - what has that got to do with it?! The only solution is a regular presence of a PCSO, at our last two schools they were there day in day out, he was evil but no one dared park illegally - it worked!!

Where I work there are two schools, a primary and a secondary. There is a car park for each but not very big, so the schools have an arrangement with a local pub, so that parents can park in their car park. It's about half a mile from the schools.
I can see the area from my workplace and am often astounded by the awfulness of the driving, parking and attitudes, as they try to cram into the car park or in the limited roadside parking. It may not be the majority of parents who drive like this, but the ones who do give the rest a bad name.

crabbit you condone putting people out for a fraction of the day which isn't a pleasant attitude.

The ones who get me are the ones who block the pavement completely and then sit in the car and watch you walk in the road. Or the ones who just leave the car doubled parked blocking the whole road. I have a nice fix for these inconsiderate people though. Teaspoon of food colouring mixed into a tub of vaseline and put a nice big glob under each door handle.

YABU, simply for your generalisation comments.

We drive our children to school, the school doors open at 8.45 am, we live 12 mins walk from the school, both me and dh start work at 9am, we have no other choice to do our school run with our car, we don't however block anyone however dh stays in the car, I throw kids out the car and then go and get dh is the local car park.

I know of no one who does what you describe in your OP

I experience the other side of this problem. My kids are at school a half he's drive away so no chance of us walking. I've seen what utter knobs the local residents are about 'their' parking spaces outside their houses
Well newsflash: we all pay our road tax and you don't own the parking space outside your home, nor the grass verge, if there is one. I'll park wherever it is legal. Some of the residents near school now put cones out on the roads outside their houses, and rocks along the edges of grass verges, so that noone can mount them. They also key cars and verbally abuse and threaten mums in front of their children. The school got so sick of it they called the police to come and have a look at what was going on. They found nothing unlawful, just people getting very het up about not being able to park outside their own homes. Well tough. Want private parking? Buy a house with a drive then. Someone has parked their car outside my house now for 5 consecutive days. I have managed not to key it, nor abuse the driver. Because guess what? I don't own the road outside my house.

rocks along the edges of grass verges, so that noone can mount them.

Why does anyone need to mount a grass verge? There are lots of estates round here where people mount grass verges to park cars or move them on and off their (not legal) parking places. They now look like the Somme. I don't blame anyone for blocking thes off with rocks.

People need to mount the (publicly owned) grass verges so as to avoid blocking the road. It's a shame but that's narrow roads for you. And the residents put out the rocks especially for the school run then take them in again, just to be petty.

People need to mount the (publicly owned) grass verges so as to avoid blocking the road. It's a shame but that's narrow roads for you. And the residents put out the rocks especially for the school run then take them in again, just to be petty.

They're on their way to work normally. I can't afford the time to walk mine to school, walk home then go to work. And on days when dd kicks off and makes us late, yes I'm selfish because I need to get her in on time.

If the road is that narrow then park elsewhere somewhere safer!