School parking

[Tameonefirst]

Received a text from dcs school tonight asking parents not to park on the roads around the school as neighbours are complaining that they can't park on the road outside their houses. AIBU to think that A: they don't own the road and as long as people are parked properly not blocking drives there's nothing to complain about, B: they bought a house next to a school, surely they knew this was going to happen, and C: the school should have explained point A to the complainer? Thank you

Another time maybe

Many people work 6-3 shifts, it is very common shift pattern.

Others have explained that the house will have been purchased before dc couldn't walk or cycle to school

If you arrive home at school motoring madness time - what are you supposed to do?

My father did this a couple of times in his motorhome, it made for complete meltdown of cars behind tooting and cars in front wanting him to reverse...? Cars parked down either side of the road so nowhere for his vehicle to pull in ( no larger than a fire engine) he ended up putting kettle on whilst someone called the police to come and unentangle the situation.

It can result in ridiculous situations, but had this been a fire engine - then what would happen?

My dad wasn't worried, he had a book and a drink to pass the time.

YABU. It is not the people that park considerately that are the problem, it is the number of people that dump their cars in inappropriate places which make it difficult for people to drive safely down their road. I don't know why people can't park a bit further away.

As always it's the minority who are incapable of parking properly and legally.

Repeat offenders should be sent on common sense parking and driving courses.

Our local hospital is in a residential area and the local residents were able - when parking in hospital carparks started- to enforce that no hospital parking was allowed, there are signs stating fines will be issued. Consequently these streets are empty if Street parking. I guess eventually this is what residents in school areas will do.

There is a school I walk past on my walk to work, it's on a main road without any parking, no parking nearby either, therefore there are hoards of parents walking lots of dc to school. It's interesting that when parking is taken away altogether the problem disappears. This is a school that parents fight tooth and nail to get thuer dc into.

ivy our catchment area is not massive as there are a couple of schools in the area. Last time the car park was closed (see post upthread) there was a sudden, large increase in people on foot. Therefore most of the inconsiderate parkers are lazy inconsiderate bastards, as far as I can tell.

We have been in our house for 34 years: it is fairly close to a large primary school. There has always been some problems with stupid parking but it is now much worse. Tbh, most of the time it doesn't affect us as normally parents don't park in our road. I now have to take and collect my DGS from the school a couple of days a week. We have to negotiate our way round cars parked on the pavement, crossing the road is a nightmare as cars are parked so close to the corner. A couple of weeks ago the Council finally got round to putting in a proper dropped kerb after a family had been lobbying for five years so that they could push their disabled adult daughter to the shops by the school. Within a week when we went to collect DGS there was a 4x4 parked across the kerb - the people with the wheelchair couldn't manage to get home until the parent came back.

ivykaty there is a residents only parking scheme where a friend of mine lives, close to a hospital. However residents have to pay for their permits, so it isn't something most people will do in a hurry.

Larry, this is not a residents only parking though - not quite sure how it works, but no one parks in the street between the drives.

There are other streets in the town the other side of the hospital that have opted for resident parking only - or half an hour limit for non residents and it is an entirely different system.

Paying though to have streets that are free of idiotic parking maybe for residents worthwhile. The more motorists taking dc to school annoy local residents then be it on their own heads when they can't park within quarter or half a mile of the school.

As pollution becomes more and more in the public eye and how it is effecting health and causing premature death, then possibly in five ten years time things will go full circle for other modes if transport to school other than motorcars.

healthyair.org.uk/the-[[problem/
www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/research/divisions/aes/newsevents/mediamentions.aspxhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/air-pollution-to-blame-for-60000-early-deaths-per-year-government-to-be-warned-9893810.html]]

Our local school was built twenty years ago and most occupants of the houses have lived there far longer. Before it was built residents asked for parent parking to be made available, (there is plenty of land available) and were completely ignored by the local council. The road is gridlocked twice a day.

The tone of the original post explains why residents near schools get so frustrated.

WALK!

YANBU OP. Providing they are parked considerately and legally there's nothing to complain about.

Our school isn't too bad, there is a car park (though not big enough) so we park on the road. Public and no restrictions. It does cause a traffic build up though but I think that's to be expected around a school at drop off/pick up time tbh.

On occasion you get one person parking on the zigzags but it's rare.

What annoys me more is the speed people pass there. For some reason it isn't a 20 zone. It's a 30 which I think is bloody stupid. I hear this is being changed so that's something I guess.

Not everyone can walk goblin. Also the school DD attends was there in 1859. So the residents were definitely aware of the school...

We live near a school and recently inconsiderate parking has been more of an issue. Half the time you can't even get into the street at school time.. always always always someone parking on corners and then someone else swinging into the road and expecting people to reverse the length of the road to accommodate. I've been told off for parking by my house as it's selfish at school time. Once had someone park on my drive (blocked that fucker in).. It's really frustrating and it's made worse as the school sent a letter telling people not to park in the actual road the school is on as it's 'unsafe'.

To be honest, I've gotten to the point where I'll just park now. If the road is blocked then it's blocked.

I do walk goblin, my question was "AIBU to think"

Passmethewine
There weren't any motorcars around in 1859

We have a primary school at the end of our street of terrace houses. All resident parking is on street - no drives or garages. The parking is difficult at the best of times because most houses have two cars, but we seem to manage. However, at school drop off and pick up it is horrendous. Double parking so the road is completely blocked, massive cars trying to squeeze along the narrow road, parents parking in the lane behind the houses. Worst of all, they park in the surrounding streets because the school car park entrance is off an A road, which means they have to queue to get out - so they won't use it.

The other issue is how long the process takes. I arrived home in my car at 3.30 the other day, couldn't park in our street or any of the three streets nearby so gave up and went to pick up a coffee. It was more than half an hour before a space appeared, and that wasn't in my street - we are nearest the school.

I'm not sure what the answer is. It's the public highway right enough but we get hit with a double whammy because we are also walking distance to the station.

At one time when i left for work (by public transport) I parked my own car as hear to my dropped kerb as I could so that DW and DS (then small) would be able to go out during the school run. I expect any parents who knew it was my car not on my drive got pissed off. Tough. Fortunately that school, which seemed to have an admissions policy in favour of the children of the grossly inconsiderate, has closed.

If it's like our school, people turn up 3/4 of an hour hour early for pick up time, just to get a space!!! Of course it is annoying for the people who live there!
One side of the road is double yellow lines, but that doesn't stop the people with disabled badges parking on them and causing utter chaos. Sometimes we have had children come back from school trips, and the coach has had to drop them on the pavement by the main road, because it couldn't get up to the school because of parents who would not budge!
What is really annoying is the people who stand with their children in the road chatting to the drivers of awkwardly parked cars!! Seriously! It happens every day, unless we get a visit from the traffic wardens or police!

To help with school parking problems my DD's school set up a 20 minute drop off zone/walking bus in the morning where parents could drop off their children and then drive on. It was a 100m walk away from the school gate and run by parents. Once you had enough children, they were walked into school by 2 adults, with sufficient adults remaining to take more children.

It had to close as not enough parents would use it.

On the day that we have to go in the car as Dd has gym club on the other side of town after school we park over 600m from the back of the school and walk round a nice lake to get in. It's a nice little walk for everyone and means that I have an entire street to park on so can choose a good place.

If everyone parked 400m from school then the number of streets available would multiply rapidly and so there would be a few cars on every road rather than hundreds of cars on a small number of roads.

Also all kids would be able to leave the school safely as there wouldn't be a gazillion cars everywhere.

And the numbers of prescriptions for Valium would go down massively. (I started doing the 600m away thing after my first - and last - attempt to park outside school. I have never been so stressed in all my life!)

Really Ivy

My point was that the school has been there a lot longer than the residents. And tbh I think it's common sense that if you live near a school you will see an increase in traffic at say 8:30-9:15 and 2:45-3:30.

Luckily we have few inconsiderate parkers. 👍🏻

I'd prefer our school to have signs also pointing out that there is a road parallel to the one on the school that brings you out at the same place, that way maybe the stand offs could be avoided.

StickyToffee that sounds like an excellent idea.

If it's like our school, people turn up 3/4 of an hour hour early for pick up time, just to get a space!!!
I simply don't understand this. Assuming that you live within walking distance of the school there is no reason to do that. If you have come straight from work then you have time to go home, park at home then walk to pick up the children.
I know a mum at my school who drives the length of 20 houses to pick up her children (no disabilities, no reason to drive), she gets there early to get a parking space. The people who get there later end up parking near her house.

I genuinely don't understand people who are confused by the fact that residents don't like not being able to park their cars outside their house
Residents like their cars near their houses for the same reason most people do - to unload shopping/ DC/ dogs with minimal hassle. Why is someone too lazy to walk their child to school a little further than directly outside the school trumping a resident's right to access their own homes without having to walk too far with DC/ shopping etc as above? Residents may be elderly/ heavily pregnant etc.

Surely people who got into the local school based on catchment live close enough to walk their children? If not and/ or if they work can't they factor in an extra few mins on the school run to park further and walk?

Residents would be considerate/ sympathetic to parents if they felt the consideration was being reciprocated, I'm sure.

As someone said upthread it's a sign of how massively entitled everyone is these days that some people genuinely can't see why this sort of behaviour near people's own homes don't put them out.

I genuinely don't understand people who are confused by the fact that residents don't like not being able to park their cars outside their house

I'm not 'confused' by it. I completely understand what a monumental pain in the arse it is.
The simple fact though is that you have no right to be able to park outside your house. You don't own it. Unless it is a residents only permit street then it is fair game to everyone.

Mumuoftwoyoungkids In towns 600m from one school is probably near enough to the next to be a nuisance to another group of residents!