Driving fine outside school but not term time?

[maofteens]

So I've just moved, and was told I couldn't drive down the first block of a couple streets that have schools during morning drop off and collection times. Fair enough, I live in the second block and can get around it. But I've just received a fine (and it has already escalated due to issues with not receiving redirected mail) as I drove down it 14 August - but this isn't term time! School started Sept 2nd. I feel this is totally unfair. I've paid it as I'm beyond the appeal date now, but is this restriction all year then? I thought the sign said term time only.

@UserOfManyNames

I have also never come across this and I’ve lived all in many places in the UK. I was expecting more people to be at this but it seems to be common from the responses.

So you actually can’t drive down streets where the schools are? All the streets where schools are that I’ve known are rammed at drop of and pick up time. Are you in the UK or is this a new thing? Do people dropping their DC off not get fined? What about if they’re dropping off disabled DC or picking up an injured or unwell one? How is that policed?

Very strange.

I think it's a mainly London/SE England thing

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3538702-to-ask-if-youve-heard-of-School-Streets-and-whether-you-think-its-a-good-idea

Well if you don't read road signs properly, whilst you are not alone, no sympathy.

@MojoMoon In this positive scenario of yours have you considered the residents who actually live on that street that is being closed? Because we also have children (at other schools) and need to collect them on time, leave to work and appointments on time and in case of emergencies need to be able to bloody get out of our own street!! Also, emergency vehicles can't get in, so fingers crossed no one needs an ambulance or a fire truck during the road closure hours because the school staff are nowhere to be found to open the gate.

And in our case it makes zero sense, as the school is surrounded by busy roads, so no air is being improved whatsoever by closing a small side road

@Akire Completely agree and sympathise!

I had no idea this was a thing!
Do the residents not get extremely angry with being banned from using the road outside their homes at a certain time?
How can this be legal, how can local authorities dictate who gets to use the roads in this way?
Surely it’s an unacceptable risk for emergency services?

If you e already paid then that’s that. It’s too late to appeal.

Although if the signs wrong you may have a chance of getting it changed and all fines quashed and paid back.

That’s you’re only hope. What the sign says.

In 999 someone would be dragged out open the road but it’s still vital minutes wasted. Sprung on roads around here on one hand helps manic parking and blocking road but least you too could get out. Now you just have suck it up. Councils to busy being green to ask residents views.

@chocolateanyone

So driving along and see a sign that says no access but term time only, therefore I should stop and quickly google to see when term time is to see if I can drive this way or not?? Don't think so

Either that or accept the fine and pay it if it happens to be term time when you drove down it.

[quote XelaM]@MojoMoon In this positive scenario of yours have you considered the residents who actually live on that street that is being closed? Because we also have children (at other schools) and need to collect them on time, leave to work and appointments on time and in case of emergencies need to be able to bloody get out of our own street!! Also, emergency vehicles can't get in, so fingers crossed no one needs an ambulance or a fire truck during the road closure hours because the school staff are nowhere to be found to open the gate.

And in our case it makes zero sense, as the school is surrounded by busy roads, so no air is being improved whatsoever by closing a small side road[/quote]
Emergency vehicles can get in. The gates on our road are manned the entire time they are closed (which is for 30mins).

Some schemes - including the one the OP has been fined at - are monitored by camera (if there was a gate she wouldn't have been able to be fined). Again, emergency vehicles can pass through those.

In the case by me, residents can still exit via the other end of the road, which is camera monitored but permits exiting. Just not entering.

It's not a very big road. If you really need to arrive home at that point, you can park at the other end and walk up.

It's really not been a big deal at all. Much better than the school drop off traffic - barely enter or exit the road anyway due to various dimwits parking terribly.

Well, we live on different roads. Our road is a cul-de-sac and the staff leave and don't even open the gate during the required times. They are always late. So no, neither the residents nor emergency vehicles can get in/out so it's a very big deal

residents can still exit via the other end of the road, which is camera monitored but permits exiting. Just not entering.

So if you live there, leave for work during this time but then realise you've forgotten something (your lunch, a report you were reading) you cannot go back to your house to pick it up?

If you forgot your lunch or your report, you would just park at the end of the road and walk back up and get it. You can enter on foot....that's not banned.

It's maybe a football pitch long? Perhaps a bit further if you lived right at the end of the road. Let's say 1.5 football pitches in length.

Also this is inner London. Not sure anyone is driving to work.

@MojoMoon I drive to work!

My council area in Scotland were making noises about this prior to covid. It was being presented as an idea but it felt like a fait accompli however not heard a peep since covid.

As far as I can tell this just moves the problem back a few street, this isn’t London and most of us need our cars to get to work. We can drop off up to 15 min early and there are two turning circles so it is pretty slick of a morning (not so much at pick up). Honestly I feel you buy a house on a street with a primary school then you should have accepted the traffic problems and that may even have been reflected in the price. I get that some people behave badly but I honestly would say it is all safe and courteous at my kids school.

So driving along and see a sign that says no access but term time only, therefore I should stop and quickly google to see when term time is to see if I can drive this way or not?? Don't think so

Except that anyone brought up in England or anyone who has ever had dc go to school in England would be aware that 14th August is ALWAYS in the school holidays
If you weren't sure (for example Easter is different dates each year) then you'd just avoid it, like people avoid driving in bus lanes even when they don't need to as they'd rather do that than risk it if thy aren't sure.

The road we live on with a school only earlier this year became shut off during certain times. It still allows residents to come and go as they please, though this can take longer. It is currently 'policed' by school staff. This seems to exist of lots of shouting and the placing of signs.

It's not something we signed up for when we bought our house but we have been pragmatic about it. Other neighbours have complained about the signs being put out over an hour before the official time. Concerns have been raised as well by parents parking across one of the entrances to the road thus blocking emergency vehicle access.

To be fair I would rather live on our road than one of the others which is full of traffic as a result.

Have you checked the sign OP. Does it refer to anything which is different to the ticket you got? Or is the time key still within whatever parameters there are in the sign so that’s that?