AIBU to think that if you can’t drive and park sensibly on the school run, you should be put in the stocks?

[53rdWay]

Okay maybe not put in the stocks. I’d settle for a little light tarring and feathering.

We live near school and walk there and back. I understand not everyone can do this for whatever reason, fine. (I am sure more can than do though.) But FFS I am so tired of the terrible driving we have to dodge on the way!

Every morning there are cars parked blocking pavements, cars in the bus bay holding up the bus drop-offs, cars pulled over on the yellow zig-zags, cars driving on and off pavements while children are walking, cars dashing in to the teachers’ car park to sneakily drop off there without indicating, cars zooming out of side-roads without looking. Then every afternoon it’s the same in reverse.

This all starts about half an hour before dropoff and pickup times as well because people arrive so early. I’ve had to bang on someone’s car window before to wake her up because she was blocking the entire pavement, on a one-pavement road, and had settled down for a nap. Recently there was a fire alarm twenty minutes before pickup, and the fire engine couldn’t get in because of all the people already parked there. Very stern email to all parents from the head about that and... it has made zero difference.

The school asking parents time and time again to be more considerate doesn’t work. The council won’t send out parking wardens so that won’t work. AIBU to think medieval public shaming might be the only way forward?

Our school has use of a car park. There are probably 50 spaces in it and it's a 2-3 min walk away.

Often about 15 of us use it. Madness.

I can't walk the whole way due to time constraints but I leave early get to school when the doors open then I can drive straight out once I'm back at my car as I don't need to spend 5 minutes fighting down narrow roads past people who can't park.

On the side roads near our school, there's heaps of free parking...it's literally a 30-60 second walk to the school from there. However, every day parents turn up an hour before school finishes to get a space right outside...they then sit in their car for an hour all to save about a minutes walk. I find it baffling.

Theres one woman at our school who is laughably shit at parking. She cannot cope with the car park at all, so sticks to the roads but is the sort of person that parks 2 foot away from the kerb so you're never sure if she's just stopped in a queue of traffic. Shes also partial to parking on junctions. The school did ask us to take photos of shite parking for the newsletter and indeed I could send two photos every day of her parking in a new and different shit way every day of the week if I wanted to, but her child is in my child's class so I don't.

The HT is pretty brutal at DS's school. After an incident last year She stands at the school gate in the morning and if she sees a parent parked badly she won't let them into school grounds unchallenged

They've set up a walking bus as the pub at the end of the street from the school allow parents to use their car park (you can either leave your kids with the walking bus or just park there and walk down yourself if you want). It's literally a three/four minute walk yet some parents still want to park like idiots right at the school gate.

They also named and shamed cars that park in the two disabled spaces in the school car park (the children dropped off in them have a time slot so they are always available for them) and now have a member of staff on the car park gate who doesn't allow anyone without permission into the car park.

Apparently she's now looking into further methods she can put into place and how far she can go (I know she's finding out if she can refuse extra tickets to school events etc to people who repeatedly ignore things).

It's quite appalling that a child being badly injured hasn't actually made the parents wind their necks in. They are just so self centred.

I drive my kids to school in my Landover. I wish I didn't have to. We live outside town on top of a big hill, 2 miles walk from school (the majority of it the big hill). We are way out of normal admissions area, but it was the school with a place for my six year old, and eight year old got in on appeal last week. Normal area is less than a mile

That's the really bizarre thing. There will of course be people like yourself and me I'm 4 miles away who have no choice but to drive. But many schools in big towns and villages , well if you look at the last admissions distance its usually under a mile. So within walking distance.

The number of cars parked on the road, vs the last distance admitted it just doesnt as up. Where dd goes to school theres several places that have an arrangement with the school that allows parents to use the car parks. All within a 5 min walk of the school. Still they would rather park on the grass on the side of the road or mount the curbs to get past

Literally nothing will make a difference
Moved 2 years ago. Next to the school is a massive free car park. You have to drive through it to get to the school. There is enough parking for all
You still get people parking and blocking the school entrance. Parking on yellow lines and parking on the coach park.

Old school outside the uk used the hard playground as the carpark. So, mornings and afternoons it was full of cars. Lunchtime it was full of kids. Lessons 2-7 (ie not first or last) could have a PE lesson on it.
I could never decide if it was inspired or crazy planning.

The English school drives me bonkers. My neighbour sets off at the same time as me every morning. We arrive back at a similar time. I walk. He drives. Afternoons - I leave 20 minutes later, and get back af the same time! Thd parking is beyond belief. Its very much "I'll do what suits me, and screw the rest of you".

Can we throw rotting pumpkins at anyone caught with stoopid parking between now and first day back after half term??

School parking is a nightmare!! Our school is on quite a narrow road - the kind of road where you can feasibily park on one side only -, with a narrow pavement. People park on the pavement, and on both sides of the road.

Parking warden does appear occasionally but nobody is clear of his function other than standing blocking the pavement.

It's nothing new. Over 30 years ago, I lived close to a primary school, and even back then, with fewer cars and smaller school, it was chaos at pick up time with cars abandoned blocking the pavement entirely, or parked across peoples' drives, or parking right on the corner at junctions.

And yes, just a street away, the road was wider, and less busy, but the mummies just couldn't bring themselves to walk for 2 minutes more.

Oh god our school is the same. When it was raining the other week someone had parked over the dropped curb of the crossing to drop off their little darling because their child will obviously melt in the rain. Every day people park on the zigzags, they don't give a fuck.

People are so selfish and they genuinely think that they are more important than others and their reason for parking is more important than the safety of other children. Bastards the lot of them.

The funny thing is that if challenged, they always say the same thing..."I'm just dropping them off" or "I'm only going to be a minute". Yeah, like every other parent ffs.

"I'm just dropping them off" or "I'm only going to be a minute".

Same with taxis, delivery vans and tradesvans though too. They're happy to block your driveway meaning you can't get your car in/out of your drive and it's always the same "i'll only be a minute" as if it gives them the right to be inconsiderate twats. Even worse, when they could stop, literally, two car lengths away not blocking a driveway!

I think more can be done if the school is willing.

As per a pp, the HT at my son's primary was ruthless about parking.

It didn't used to be an issue, as most people walked their children to school but when the school was rated outstanding, there was a massive boost in the number of children attending who came from outside the village and thus by car (I also think that because they didn't live here, they were less bothered about annoying residents near the school as they weren't going to be bumping into on a regular basis).

It started to get silly with parents parking on the yellow lines, arriving stupidly early with engines running (polluting the road other children were walking down), blocking in driveways.

To be fair the HT took action.

She would stand at the school gate with a notebook and challenge anyone parking badly/dangerously and send out regular letters on parking etiquette that pulled no punches (pupil safety, respect for the local community, values the school was instilling in pupils being flouted by parents, damage to the environment).

Repeat offenders (apparently) used to get personal phone calls from her.

Essentially she made it "socially unacceptable" to the point that parents parking badly also started to be challenged by other parents and pulled up on it.

It worked. However it's sad that she had to devote so much time/energy on the matter when she could have been doing other things.

I love these threads!!

I live across from a school. My dropped kerb is directly opposite the side door but this side of street is half on/off pavement parking. I used to get parents (and just as many males as females) parking across my drive. Very very narrow street. Always just for a minute...

I have had to pay extra for plumbers who couldn’t get out so I had to pay for their time. I have had to miss doctors appointments. You name it.

And the abuse I get if I challenged them. And sometimes the CFers would tell me It was my fault because I bought a house there. (And wasn’t I lucky to afford a house at all and once, here on MN, was told that I was lucky to afford a plumber).

Now, the school names and shames. And they put a really strongly worded message in the newsletter about how it puts the students in danger dropping off right across the road from the door. I told them about an incident last month where a child ran across the road in front of an oncoming car. They were horrified.

I have double yellow lines across my drop down and the name and shame is working well enough. Still encounter some CF but much less often.

I also informed the school that my own DC is put in danger going to/ coming from her secondary school. the people parking are certainly not looking down our drive to see if she is coming in or out and the drive is the only entry into the house.

*the double yellows are a new thing done just before school started this year I should mention.

Our school puts big cones on the zigzags to stop people parking. People just pull up close and stick their hazards on to let their little darlings out instead. In doing so they completely block the road so nobody can get round them. And as it's a dead end, so everyone has to u turn out, it causes even more chaos.

If I have to drive to school I park further away and walk down. It is just not worth the bother.

We have 2 car parks near the school that could be used by parents, one across the road (so a 2 min walk), and one that would be a 5-7 minute walk. But no. Their precious darlings must be as close to the school as possible.

And yes, the worst offenders are those that could walk to school in 15-20 mins (and I know they don't work). Those that live further out all manage to park considerately.

One group of residents on the road on the other side of the school organized a police blitz because they had had enough. That’s when I realized that I was not alone in my fight and that the school really was willing to help.

If the school is not willing to help, maybe talk to the council about road safety concerns and fixing the issue long term.

If you drive to do the school run and not walk with children you should be put in the stocks.

You put a safe walking route in to the local school and I will gladly walk it but I am not risking life and limb walking along a NSL road where two lorries cannot safely pass each other without one having to stop.

We are moving house and DH told me the walk for our DC would be too long. I did point out to DH that back in the Cretaceous Era when we went to secondary, the one mile walk to school was considered normal. No one said it was too much for us. The DC will have to do half that, along safe easy roads. Shows how attitudes change.
And back then, it was important to be polite and grown-up about things. Now, it is important to get your own way.

YANBU

Our school has a huge carpark right next to it, big enough to take all the school run cars. But no, apparently walking those extra hundred yards is too much, better to park all over the place right outside the gate, causing gridlock.

I help out at with an activity outside of school and we go out in the mini bus returning just before home time.
As the teacher is driving I've often had to ask parents to move as they park blocking the school gates. The hostility I get is shocking even when I explain that we need to get in and get the children off the bus. In some cases it's their own child in the bus!

Our school is on a narrow cul-de-sac, so watching people get stuck in there for a good 15 mins in the traffic is something I find pretty funny. (on the times that I drive, I park in a different area a block away)

Our school handbook states that any parents repeat offending doing three point turns on the zigzag lines will have their children removed from the school (private, so they can do so) And they get the council CCTV camera car to park next to them taking photos in the first few weeks of school in September - it's actually fairly effective

every day parents turn up an hour before school finishes to get a space right outside...they then sit in their car for an hour all to save about a minutes walk. I find it baffling

I live at the end of a road opposite a school. It's about 90 seconds walk from where I live to the end of the road. Parents arrive an hour before school finishes, like you say, and sit there for an hour. Most live about 10 minutes' walk from the school.

Park & Stride scheme works well at our primary - the kids all pester the parents to do it cause they want to stickers and badges
www.livingstreets.org.uk/media/2035/park-and-stride-print.pdf