I live in a road with a school

[Truffle55]

Apologies in advance for the rant and slightly long message…

I live in a road with a primary school at the end. I’ve lived here for 25 years and I totally understand that parents need to get their kids to school - I too, need to do the same.

But…

Recently the behaviour of the parents dropping off and picking up their DC has been, frankly awful.

I have come home from picking my DC up from school to find someone parked on my drive! And now, someone thinks it’s “ok” to park across the T-junction into the road. This means I have to drive around them and into cars coming out of the road (from dropping off/picking up DC) to get onto my driveway (assuming no one is “borrowing” it).

I do understand people need to take their kids to school, I have to do it too! But really? Why are they so inconsiderate? When I pick my DC up from school I park away from the school… and we have an agreed process if I’m not there due to not being able to park SAFELY (I do get that DC is at secondary school and its easier to do this).

However, the parking by my house is getting out of control - the person who parks across the junction lets the children get into the car - roadside…. This is just dangerous!?

I’m at the point now that I just push through the cars because I feel “I live there, and I have right of way” - but that makes me uncomfortable.

And, let’s not talk about the addition is of an ice cream van!

Anyway, I’m considering contacting the school or even the police to see if they can do anything - sadly, I really feel, it is an accident waiting to happen 😕

OP, definitely speak to the school. I live on the road right next to the school my children go to so I can walk them over, but so many parents park so inconsiderately, it drives me crackers at times. The speed they drive at both drop off and collection on my road really angers me too, it’s always the ones in the big 4x4 types cars too. I’ve nearly been hit by cars driving incorrectly a few times. At the front of the school there’s zigzags where you cannot pull up but every term in the newsletter there’s a reminder to please not park there/park thoughtfully etc. So many of these families live within walking distance to the school too so there’s so much unnecessary traffic.

Where I live, we have school streets blocked off to traffic say between 830 and 915 camera enforced. It works suggest it.

Flipping heck, no wonder rates of obesity have got so bad when people can’t be arsed to walk for more than a couple of minutes. It’s so depressing 😔

(Yes I do know that there can be lots of different reasons for obesity- but being too lazy to walk a short distance is one of them).

Those who’ve mentioned people idling their engines for long periods- this makes me so angry. Absolutely no thought about the pollution which can be so damaging to health (especially children). This is presumably why idling on a public road is illegal- I’d be tempted to put notes on windows to let people know that.

Take some photos of the poorly parked cars and send them to the primary school. The headteacher of our local primary school asks the parking attendant to turn up when she has had several complaints about parking.

I walk my kids to school, but someone had parked across the entire pavement the other day, forcing kids into the road.

I took a photo, posted it on our local FB group under the caption of "today's park like a penis award goes to..."

As for the person on your driveway, then block them in, and when they ask you to move, inform them you're just about to jump in the bath but will move it when you're done in about an hour or so. (I used to live in Oxford and did this a couple of times before when a CF parked on my drive way!)

Why would there be no pub? I doubt it’s opening at 0830 for school drop off. If they “park, pick their kids up and bugger off again”, they’re not using the village facilities are they?

This. Our local school did the same. The council also helped with parking wardens. It did make a lasting difference, so please do speak up.

My ones are now in secondary, which has also got problems and the head sends out "name and shame" letters ones every so often. Our primary school was shocking! totally short little road, very few parking spaces, main road to one side but on the other side plenty of parking but as people have said, gosh, a two minute walk!

My neighbour always told me how great we were to always walk our kids to school, we worked, she didn't and always drove to drop them off and picked them up. So weird and so lazy. I would rather walk to avoid the stress of trying to find a parking space. (It is about an 8 min easy walk to that school from us)

The primary finally got a school street and cameras but as someone upthread pointed out that may of course also affect the local residents about deliveries etc

We used to live opposite a Nursery and I really sympathise with you, op. We used to have parents parking on our driveway regularly. So annoying! When it’s your home and your everyday reality, I found that it made me irrationally angry!

Definitely contact the school etc as suggested, but I would be inclined to think that the problem will go on.

We have one of those in our town too. The area was new to us and when we were househunting we got snarled up in the road closure and couldn't find a way around it to get to our viewing appointment on time. In driving round and round trying to find an alternative way through, we realised that the parking that happens around every school was pushed further and further away from the road where the school actually was, meaning that all the other roads within 5 mins or so walk away had become gridlocked as a result.

It totally put me off buying that house, or any house likely to be similarly affected. You'd have to plan all of your comings and goings, visits, deliveries and appointments around this, twice a day every day in term time.

I imagine it is having quite a negative effect on the saleability of those houses.

Talk to the school.

I think that schools need to take more responsibility in all of this. With parking and indeed driving increasingly restricted in urban areas, while public transport provision crumbles, parents increasingly find it more difficult to carry out the journeys they need to do.

Everyone has to take their kids to school, everyone has to work, this is just how it is. Pick up and drop off happen at the same very limited times for two thirds of the year and most times outside of that streets next to schools are ime pretty quiet. Schools generally have enough land at their disposal to be able to organise a system that accommodates these brief pinch points and they really need to do it.

Although also I think that people who live on streets with schools do need to get a bit of perspective about predictable and short lived minutes of inconvenience.

I sympathise as I too live in a road with the school at the end. I’ve had people park over my drive blocking my car in for the last 18 years. Worst thing they do is double park on the hill up to the school so if I come out if the end of my road I can’t turn left as you can’t get through. When we first looked at the house we came at school drop off and pick up times to check the traffic and it was fine and only busy for an hour twice a day so not a big deal but the year my son started reception they added an additional class . So over the next six years it got gradually busier and busier as the pupil numbers increased.

We extended our dropped curb and had H bars painted on the road as did several other houses and the rise us now much quieter.

Ours was never like this, and most people walked - it's only a small primary school, and most people lived nearby. Then just before covid it got Ofsted 'outstanding', at around the same time a school in a nearby bigger town went down to 'good' (the others there are still 'outstanding') and now there are lots of people driving from the town to bring their kids here and the traffic is a nightmare.

@HauntedBungalow it's not "short lived minutes" - it's essentially almost 3 hours a day residents are prevented from doing everyday things they need to do - like getting a taxi outside their home to get to medical appointments (which we do regularly).
I am hoping the one by me (still in trial stage) will change to allow taxis and deliveries.
Edit : sorry I thought you were referring to a "School Street" traffic zone.

I'd say it's not short lived at all. My old primary school had huge problems with the influx of no walking parents - an entire through road got blocked. When I was younger, everyone walked to the school. The village has increased in size along with a population of children who seem incapable of walking despite it being a very very safe area with no through traffic at all.

We have that as well as residents parking in nearby streets. The parking attendants will randomly come out and ticket cars during school run time.

There is one local primary school it doesn't work at all due to them not having residents parking. As a result school run parents have blocked traffic including a bus route by parking on an adjacent road.

@Needmorelego yeah those "school street" measures generally restrict people far more than brief pick up and drop off windows. It's sledgehammer to crack a nut.

It's short lived in that it doesn't last all day. It doesn't even last an hour. And the second phase of it happens when most people are at work.

As for walking, well the majority of people are capable of doing that, including men driving to and from their big important jobs. And yet still the roads are full of cars. Why are women and children focused on as being the ones who should walk and the subjects of fury when they do not do so. Unlike most rush hour journeys, taking the kids to school is a journey that happens due to legal requirements - children have to be in school. Yet it seems to have a lower status than any other.

But if a child gets hit (and there are regular near misses) the effect will not be short lived.

Its not the street being busy, its the dangerous and inconsiderate drivers causing the problems. Double yellow lines, mounting pavements, blocking exits etc.

Same except the primary close to me has an arrangement with a pub that's about a 4 min walk away. Do many use it? Absolutely not! My kids went to that school and even when mine were there the car park was made staff only because the parents were so inconsiderate and it became dangerous.

I totally get that people often need to drop kids at school then go onto work but there are so many compromise options that get ignored. Surely driving closer to school and then walking the last 10 mins would be sensible for most?

Twiglets, I'd be very happy to live in a 'school street' with restricted access, not all comings and goings involve cars, find another way to.live

Contact the local council. They will send out a parking enforcement officer. Worked a treat.

Surely driving closer to school and then walking the last 10 mins would be sensible for most?

Trouble is that there's a small amount of time between drop off and needing to start work. Drop off is 8.30 earliest, usually 8.45, most jobs start at 9. Any variation from that costs money ultimately - shorter working hours from a 9.30 start means lower wages. Earlier drop off at eg breakfast club costs attendance fees. That's every day and it adds up.

Even a ten minute walk means ten minutes each way which realistically means building an extra 30 minutes into the schedule and either way you do that you end up, as a parent, paying for it.

Cycling is quick

Hah When i said the same thing on another thread, i was told the parents MUST be ALL on their way to work, .......................at 3.30pm on a Friday afternoon