Selfish parking.

[Draina]

Why is it that when parents are parking near a school to do the school run, they think it's okay to park like a complete fool? You should've seen the street I live on when I got home today. People parked so far across the pavement you couldn't get a pram or car seat down the street, someone parked outside my house across a space that you could fit two cars in but because of how they've parked (across two spaces) I couldn't get in, people parking across driveways because they'll 'only be 5 minutes' - I could go on and on. I have no issue with people parking outside my house. There are no double yellows and I don't own the space. Can't afford a house with a driveway. I accept that. But when I have to park at the bottom of my street and can't walk up with my pram and shopping because the pavement is obstructed by dozens of cars, it gets a little tedious. It gets to a point where I don't go out at certain times because I know that when I get back I will have this same issue. My son is 3 months old and the distance I have to park from my house, I can't carry him all that was as his car seat is so heavy.

AIBU to wonder why people think it's okay to park so selfishly? I do a school run for my DSD occasionally and whilst I would park anywhere suitable with no double yellows, I would never block anyone in or park across the whole pavement.

Sorry to rant I'm just annoyed as I had to get my neighbour to look after my son whilst I got my shopping as I had to take him out of his car seat and carry him leaving the shopping in the car as I couldn't physically get my pram down the pavement

That's the downside to living near a school in afraid. You could ask the school to send out a polite email asking parents to park considerately but I don't think it makes a lot if difference.

God I can't write today! I'm sure you can work it out

@BooksAreMyOnlyFriends it's so infuriating. The frustrating thing is that the road is wide enough that people don't actually need to park on the pavement. Never realised it was so bad until I started maternity leave...

Contact the school and they will send a text or mention it in the newsletter. If that doesn't work ring in every time it happens.

If they're parked on pavements, I would contact the parking department at your local council and tell them what the problem is & when it happens. They will have a small number of wardens to cover a big area, but if they know there's likely to be a certain issue at a specific time, they can rota someone to cover it.

If they all get ticketed and word gets around, the problem should ease.

@LordEmsworth I'm going to try but feel like it must've been done before. Just frustrating I guess. When I didn't have a baby it didn't even register as I could just walk home.

Chances are parking people have been involved before. But what happens is once parking people leave, idiots start parking like twats again. From experience, the only way to successfully solve it is everytime it starts up to call them back out.
It's a slow battle though. Took a local school around 2 years to deal with. But totally worth it. They worked with partners, the community and the council. Even calling parking themselves when they saw idiot parkers. Obviously, residents wanted to avoid parking permits because this would impact them.

The other week when I was dropping my dc off at school, I took a photo of a car that was parked right on top of the raised crossing, on the corner of a junction with a solid white line.

I showed it to the receptionist who said to report it to the police on 101 so I did. They actually went straight round to have a look but the car had gone so the officer said she'd go to the registered keeper's address and have a word.

I would complain over and over again each time you see someone parking selfishly. If enough people do that they should be able to arrange for an officer to come around at school drop-off and pick-up time. It won't solve the problem but might make people think a bit more.

This happens everywhere,my friend came home to find a woman had parked on her drive,as reversed all the way back to the door of the house and refused to move her car!

That's the downside to living near a school in afraid.

No, it is the downside of people collecting DC from school who think the world revolves around them.

@karmastar I hope your friend “handled” that situation, cheeky frig.

School parking seems to bring out the idiots in people.

Ds school finish at 3/3-10 (ks2 finish later). Ds can’t cope with the hustle of the end of the day so I pick him up at 2.45, due to his tiredness walking home would be too dangerous but often I can’t park near school because of the amount of people already sat in cars (with engines running) including some only picking up juniors so at least 30 minutes early

Today i parked a safe distance back from a corner only to find a car parked in front of me blocking 1/4 of the junction.

It is a problem by schools everywhere. My sister has often had her car blocked in with people parked across her driveway and she needs to get across town and cant. People dont seem to care where they park which us a shame.
At dc's old school a dad used to block a drive way right opposite, obstruct the road as was narrow and had swear words painted in large white writing across the car. Really not what little kids should be seeing when they left the building.

I feel your pain OP. I live opposite a secondary school and picking-up time is absolute mayhem. Parents park on zigzag lines of the zebra crossings, they stop in the middle of the road (including in the middle of a T-junction), it's complete chaos as well as quite dangerous. I can't get down by road by car to get home, the road is blocked completely.

At secondary age, is it really necessary that all these children are picked up in cars by their parents?!! I should point that this is in central London and there's 2 tube lines and 2 train lines within 200 metres (and let's not get into the extensive bus network that runs 50 metres from the school). Argh!

The school's start and finish times literally brings the area outside where I live to a complete standstill for a good 30 mins. I know it's not the school's fault. They do have teachers outside trying to marshall the kids in and out (as otherwise the sheer volume of kids on foot block the road too) but they have no control over the dangerous parking /driving of the parents. I feel sorry for the teachers.

Our school is very clear that it is ok to take a pic of an offending vehicle and send it in to the school office or the local PCSO. The caretaker also has to stand at the bottom of the school drive and stop people parking on the yellow zig zags and blocking the direct neighbours' drives!

There is no way to make people sensible in the long term. Otherwise, one warning or an arrest would stop all crime, for ever.
When I was a Police Officer, (a million years ago), we would respond to complaints from Schools (NOT individuals) and attend in force for a day or two. The school parkers were horrified! They moved off as soon as we got our notebooks out.
But shortly after we left, the same thing would happen again.
Sorry.....it is the way of the world!

Have you got an older pram or could you borrow one? I’d force it up the path to your home even if it maleany covering it in 20 different types of car paint in the process

Meant.

God knows what autocorrect is on tonight

It is the same at every school. My daughters school is up a hill. The hill has about 5 detached houses on one side, the other side is a wall, and the school at the top so a no through road.
Parents park on the pavement, in front of drives and even turn in the driveways.

The house at the top sometimes can't get in or out as people park on the school keep clear at the bottom of his drive. (he sometimes needs to get out to pick up his grandchildren from another school).
The school keeps reminding parents to have consideration for others when they park and asks them not to drive up the hill but it gets ignored.
With cars one side, the only options are to turn at the top (if no one is parked there) , turn in a driveway, (but with the other cars that often ends up with a wing overlapping the pavement where children are walking) , or reversing all the way back down onto the main road. The parents still do all three.
Some regularly park on the pavement one side as it is wider. There us enough room to get by them, but they don't wait for people to finish walking past before they drive off and drop down the curb. Little ones also run on ahead there and wait at the bottom for parents to catch up.
If you say anything to them, you get shouted at. I was when I spoke to someone because she nearly hit me whilst I was on the pavement - luckily I had just moved my daughter to my left otherwise she would have been knocked over. She also told me she would complain to the school about me as she was a governor! She should be leading by example then.
This is a church school and parents agree to follow the Christian ethos of the school, but obviously as far as some are concerned that doesn't include consideration for others!

There is only one time in the last 3 years I have seen pcsos there. They observed, but didn't say anything to anyone. There was only one vehicle they wanted to ticket, and the school had to persuade them not to. One if the year groups was going on a trip. Shortly after 9.00 the coach arrived. It parked at the bottom of the hill. It was on double yellow lines, but there is also a bus stop there, and he was at the stop. The nearest other place the coach could be parked without blocking a drive was another few minutes walk away, crossing 2 roads, and there was not enough space as the police car was parked there (I assume they parked further away so that they were not as obvious to the parents until they drove up to the school).
Things haven't changed since. If we need to park, I stop five minutes away, where I am not in anyone's way, and walk the rest.