Turning in a private road

[RoadyMcRoadUser]

Preparing to get flamed for this…..There is a large private road literally next door to my kids primary school which is situated in a cul de sac. The public road gets massively congested in this cul de sac as you can imagine. I have sometimes had no choice but to turn my car in the private road. I have never parked there and doing the school run twice a day have never seen anyone else parked up there either. There’s a guy who lives in the road who will literally stand and glare at me if I turn the car round in his road on the school run. It’s like he comes out of his house specifically at school run times to observe this.
I know you aren’t “supposed” to put an inch of the nose of your car in a private road. But equally, there’s a part of me that thinks if you are that enraged by your private road being used by anyone other than the people that live there, then why would you buy a house directly next door to a school in a cul de sac with no other turning options? Am I being an arsehole? Or is this man overly precious?

But equally, there’s a part of me that thinks if you are that enraged by your private road being used by anyone other than the people that live there, then why would you buy a house directly next door to a school in a cul de sac with no other turning options?

I know, silly man expecting people to respect private property.

Here's the thing you are doing what is easiest and most convenient for you even though you know you don't have the right to use private property this way. It's very human. The thing that makes you unreasonable is coming to the internet hoping other people will tell you the owner of that property is being unreasonable.

You are being entitled, own it and stop trying to make this man out to be the villain.

We had this lots, there were other parking options but it would have meant parking up, getting kids out, buggies out probably and a 2 or 3 minute walk. Most people parked up causing congestion, chucked their kids out, and turned on the driveways.

I decided when we lived on that road that getting het up about this would do my blood pressure no good at all, and just timed my journeys to I missed the 30 minutes of madness a day.

Unless you are disabled, then park further away and walk to collect your child.

We have a narrow shared private drive and people block it all the time at the beginning and end of school. It's an absolute nightmare. I completely agree that school parents are ridiculously entitled. This guy will be partly responsible for paying for the road and tarmacking is hugely expensive.

We used to live in a private road opposite a school and it was incredibly irritating the number of parents who’d turn in our road or sit there with their engines idling in the afternoon waiting for their children. Particularly annoying as it’s a London school with great public transport so the car driving seemed wholly unnecessary.

Pisses me off that people buy a house next to a school then go out to complain at parents trying to drop their kids off at school on their way to work.

Like people who buy a house near a hospital then complain about how busy parking is.

Or people that buy attached houses then complain about neighbour noise.

You bought the house, if it didn't have a school/hospital/neighbour it would cost more. Miserable sods.

I’d definitely be brassed off if people dropping their kids off turned into my private road - because ultimately the increased road use by these drivers will lead to the deterioration of the road surface which I would then have to pay for. But in the longer term I’d be seeking a better solution to this than coming out and glaring at people.

Well that told me! 😂
just wanted to confirm I have never parked up in this road and have never used anyone’s actual driveway to turn around - there’s a turning circle type thing in the road.
yep ok I’ll take it on the chin that I’m being inconsiderate and bear that in mind for future school runs!

We are on a private (unadopted) road that people use to drop off at the station at the bottom of the hill rather than going the 'long way' round. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. All the residents with property facing are jointly responsible for the upkeep but as it's unsurfaced we don't really bother other than occasionally lobbing some gravel in the potholes once they get to Mini-swallowing size.

To clarify... I should accept that one of my neighbours children was nearly hit by a car when a school run parent decided to cut a across a grassed area instead of using the road, just because I live near a school?

People object to school parents who park dangerously and illegally, not those who are just dropping off their children safely.

There's a private - which in this case means not adopted by council roads on housing estate next to secondary ( they sold land to get a new building) .

For years we got passed on messages via school - no parking - fair enough - no using road at all - which was bit hmm as no signs it's not normal roads - then how dare kids in the school uniform walk though the private estate - I did say to DH bet some live on it - then message that kids living on estate couldn't have friends in uniform over - which was really odd. Then nothing ever again which has gone on years now.

According to kids rumour mill a man on estate had started verbally attacking kids on estate who went to next door school which was obvious due to uniform coming out and shouting at them particularly young girls how dare they walk in the private estate despite living on it- to point police got involved.

In your case OP could be traffic round school causing issues - but I don't think turning on road is breaking any laws so you can just ignore glares.

They pay for the upkeep. Lots of turning adds wear and tear.

He is entitled to glare. Why shouldn’t he show his feelings? You are showing yours.

Make your own decision about how you respect their land or not.

The problem with school run drivers are they're like bloody sheep. You do it then everyone else copies. Would you be happy with all these drivers using your drive?

But park bloody further from school. Clearly where you're parking isn't suitable.
I can't believe there isn't somewhere further away to park. It sounds like you're all making this cul de sac unsafe for all the school children. If you're all anything like the ones who drive directly outside my DCs school, there'll be parking over drives, driving off quickly without checking mirrors, road rage and revving. Beeping and swearing, mounting kerbs without checking for children. Their lives are farrrrr too important to care about the safety of others. Then DC get run over.

I've been the Mum that had to drive DC to a different village school too. It was rammed with cars directly outside. I parked further away and walked in with my DC. It teaches them not to be so inconsiderate.

If it was a public road then it would be unreasonable for residents to complain about increased traffic at school pick up time. Paying your road tax entitles you to use public roads.
It doesn't entitle people to use private roads, whether they are next door to a school or not. It's the equivalent of reversing on someone's drive. Most people on this thread would object to the OP doing that on their drives. Probably OP, you wouldn't like it either!

People shouldn't have to block off their own property because cheeky fuckers think than no gate = free for all!

I live on a private road. We paid for it to be resurfaced recently. We cover the cost of lighting.

So yes, to answer your question, you are being an arsehole. Nothing to do with the fact there's a school nearby with selfish entitled parents. And you won't be the only one using it to turn around in.

Of course you had a choice. If the private road didn’t exist, what would you have done? So do that.

I always imagine random strangers setting up a wood turning business when I see a no turning sign.

I wonder if Local authorities would provide data to prove that.

We live on a private road and loads of people drive on it (and park) who don't live here because it's near a good dog walking spot. I don't think just because it's a private road nobody else can drive on it. Though it is true that ours needs repairs which is going to cost residents a fortune.

What part of private (road) property don't you understand?

Oh I didn’t know this, there is a Private Road that’s a short cut to my friends house, I always drive down it!

I used to live on a private road.
It was really long and had lots of large houses along it. A few of these had been turned into flats and I lived in one of these flats.
There was no actual parking with the flats, but the road was wide enough that you could park on the road, which is what I did with my very small fiat 500. it became very clear very quickly, but this was taken very badly and I had numerous occasions of my car being vandalised or letters being stuck to the windscreen telling me I was not allowed to park there.
Eventually I had to move because it was costing me a fortune in damage to my car. I had to call the police at one point as somebody keyed it from nose to tail. The police said it happened regularly and there was nothing they could do without proof and suggested a dash cam.

honestly, some people are very precious of their private roads!

Unless you're very rural, primary schools are close enough to walk or cycle. Get out your car and do your family's health and the environment a favour.

Oh I didn’t know this, there is a Private Road that’s a short cut to my friends house, I always drive down it!

You may be fine - some of them are unadopted but with public access (my parents used to live on a road like this). I am not sure how you find out though!

I live on a private road near a couple of secondary schools. There are multiple signs saying no entry for cars / private road etc but parents just ignore it and drive in either to turn round or to park and wait for their DCs. 12 years ago we had to have the roads resurfaced costing £50k and the most badly damaged parts were at the top of the road where multiple parents were turning round twice a day. Don’t get me started on the ones that drive the wrong way round the one way system and ignore the 10mph speed limit.