Stopped on a double yellow

[PuncturedBicyclette]

DS usually walks to school. Today it was chucking it down, so I drove him. Stopped briefly on double yellows outside the school. NOT on the zigzags. No kerb markings or other signs. As far as I know it's fine to stop (not park) on a double yellow, to let passengers out.

Was there 30 seconds. Stopped, DS got out, I left.

As I was pulling back out, man on bike shouts through my window "Do you know it's f*ing double yellows?". I reply "Yes thank you, I was letting a passenger out". He swears at me again and cycles off.

I'm not doing any thing wrong, am I?

Most double yellows have loading restrictions though, but she wasn’t unloading she was setting down a passenger, there are no restrictions as long as it is safe to do so and you don’t take an unreasonable amount of time. 30 seconds sounds reasonable to me.

But you have no idea whether where she stopped was anywhere near where kids cross or whether it blocked views etc. The cyclist managed to get round her too - maybe he was pissed off that he was on a bike in heavy rain and took it out on her.

I would hazard a guess that you parking up made him have to move round you into the traffic and that's why he was annoyed.

A traffic warden would give you a couple of mins on double yellows before issuing a ticket-- in Manchester anyway.

Technically its allowed.

But there's a school I drive past sometimes which is on a cross junction and parents do it there, which totally obstructs the view of the whole junction, and pushes people to have to pull onto the other side of the road to go around them, which is obviously causing a danger.

So I understand why people get pissed off. Its rain. Your kid isn't going to die if they walk in the rain for a minute.

OP, you are correct! And it is shocking to see how many people don’t know the rules 🙄
This is from the West Midlands police website…
https://www.west-midlands.police.uk/your-options/parking-yellow-lines

Oh, I know that one. It's so she can claim cyclists are all angry, road rage roids, whilst claiming it's OK, because she's also a cyclist, I mean, look at her user name.

Because every individual who does this adds to the chaos and danger on the roads. Schools have HUGE numbers of kids congregating all at once. If everyone drives their kids, it causes huge issues.

Yes, plenty of adults walk in the rain. Even in the UK, a significant minority of households do not have a car.

No stopping, or pausing, even to let out a passenger, is indicated by double RED lines. If the lines are only yellow then you are perfectly ok.

Not illegal but thoughtless and inconsiderate.

Angry man on bicycle shouts at woman for no real reason. A tale as old as time. Unless you stopped suddenly and he nearly ploughed into the back of you and hurt his bollock in the process, there was absolutely no need to shout at you. A simple fuck off in return would suffice.

I think it's better to let secondary school Dc have more independence and resilience

It's been bliss where I live with traffic due to private school half term and less massive 4x4 clogging up the roads because their dc couldn't possibly make their own way to school

This thread is hilarious 😂 so many people completely working but too childish to admit.

As I'm sure you know OP, you did nothing wrong.

One thing I don't quite understand is why there are both single and double red lines? And the PP who said white lines mean no stopping at all?

Just read the thread before this comment and at least 7 people mentioned the cyclist and his abuse.

They have double red lines in London to show no stop zones. Therefor you’d think double yellows you must be able to stop ie it means no parking. My husband got a ticket though for stopping to read a map on double yellows, apparently you could stop for 30 seconds before the camera got you.

@user1477391263
Because every individual who does this adds to the chaos and danger on the roads. Schools have HUGE numbers of kids congregating all at once. If everyone drives their kids, it causes huge issues.

Yes, that’s fair, OP is responsible for chaos and danger on the roads for dropping off her kids safely to school FFS. That’s just a sweeping generalisation, school drop off’s don’t have to be chaos, if yours is then I suggest you speak to your school safety officer and see how to improve it. You won’t be able to change the Highway Code though. The HUGE number of kids is more to do with the size of schools nowadays don’t you think, not fair to blame parents that choose to drive for that.

I am lucky enough to live close enough to school to walk. I Don’t blame parents for driving though, even if they live on the same road as me.

It's fine to pick up someone who's ready and waiting, but you can't park your vehicle on double yellow lines while you wait for your passenger to arrive.

Another fun fact: It's fine to stop on double yellows for delivery if you are continuously un/loading. The time limit is 20 minutes for light goods, and 40 minutes for heavy goods.

It's a tribute to my favourite Smiths song. That is all. Nothing to do with being a cyclist or not, or holding any opinions about them.

Honestly wouldn’t cost me a thought. granny used to park on the white line in the middle of the road while she went into the shop. The police man we had was a saint. He’d just move it for her. She’d break every road rule but was treasured dearly so got away with everything.

The OP literally said that her child is capable of walking and walks most days. She decided to drive him because of the rain. Secondary school age kids are capable of walking quite a way on their own; I walked 40 minutes as a teenager. Most teenagers in the UK need more exercise, not less.

Seeing that we are talking about double yellow lines can someone answer this?
My understanding is you can't park on double yellow lines as it is likely to cause an obstruction. However blue badge holders are able to park on double yellows. Won't their car cause an obstruction? Say if two or more cars parked along side them with blue badges. Isn't that a big obstruction and the only difference between them and other cars ( not the drivers or passengers I want to add) is the blue card?
I asked a traffic warden that once and she didn't know how one car is a problem but another isn't.
I'm sure there's an reasonable explanation.

The dropping off was ok but are you sure you were aware the cyclist was approaching? Assuming it was very busy along there as it was school drop off time, the cyclist would have had to stop or take a chance going into the traffic to pass you.

😁😁😁 this thread has made my day.

My understanding is you can't park on double yellow lines as it is likely to cause an obstruction. However blue badge holders are able to park on double yellows. Won't their car cause an obstruction? Say if two or more cars parked along side them with blue badges. Isn't that a big obstruction and the only difference between them and other cars ( not the drivers or passengers I want to add) is the blue card?

But that's 2/3 cars. Outside a school that would be 30 cars if they didn't need a BB