To ask if you have ever solved parking on zig-zag lines issues at your school?

[JacquesHarlow]

I am genuinely trying to understand why there is so much disregard from drivers for our school markings (zig zag lines asking to "keep clear"). The disregard for the lines happens during drop-off and pick up on the school run, when the council have placed a sign above the lines explicitly stating that they should be kept clear at these times.

In the last month I have seen

• Someone swoop in over the markings while indicating left. Then sitting there with the engine running for 3 mins, still indicating left (why?!) while they hoped the space in front of the zig zags would be vacated. When it wasn't, they then offloaded their offspring on the zig zags

• A dad drop off his son in a sports car. Then sit bang slap in the middle of the zig zags while rolling a cigarette. When challenged by another mother, he said coldly .. "I'm rolling my cigarette"..completely oblivious of the outrage of those who had asked him to clear the markings so people could safely cross.

• A mother who regularly parks directly opposite the markings, mounted up on the kerb. It then funnels everyone's cars to drive into the zig zags in order to get round them. When challenged, usual haughtiness and arrogance. Couldn't see how this was causing any danger.

Last month we had a parking attendant out from the council .You can imagine what happened... all these people just melted away for a day, and then reappeared the next day.

So I have two real questions:

1. AIBU to even care about this? Are zig-zags a thing of the past? Surely people do care about the ability to cross safely without having to peer around cars that want VIP parking?
2. Have you had this problem before and how did your school solve it in the end?

Fully expect to be called U, but if so, can anyone explain then why I am unreasonable please?

Thanks in advance.

Good!! All schools should have this

Yeah, sorry - one size definitely doesn’t fit all, sometimes I see this sort of idea mentioned as though it is generally applicable.

You're not being unreasonable.

A minority of people just don't give a shit. They are not bothered, are never ashamed or embarrassed.

Unless you're a police officer standing with a parking ticket in hand, it's very hard to change their behaviour.

People are arse holes.

We had a notice in the newsletter to avoid the zigzags. Literally the next morning a woman parked on them - I pointed out to her that we had just been reminded not to do so and was basically told that "some of us" (looking me up and down) had to get to work and so didn't have time to park elsewhere. This was literally 2 mins before the door opened - surely if you have to get to work so urgently you arrive at school earlier?? She then seemed to have plenty of time to berate the teacher on the gate for their alleged "getting other parents to do your dirty work and have a go at others". I went and apologised to the teacher afterwards - stupid fucking woman.

Funny thing is they would be the first ones pulling a sad face in the local paper if their precious little darlings got hit by a car on the school run - being totally oblivious to the fact that it's knobs like them causing the problems!!

I have 2 years left of a total 12 of primary with my kids - can't fucking wait for it to be over tbh!! Never met such a bunch of dicks as most on the school run!!

@Hodgemollar Have lived in the same house for 20 years, work locally and know most families in my surrounding area. So many of them drive in from very nearby housing estates - yes, probably enroute way to work. It would take them an average of probably 7 minutes to walk home from school drop off the get in their car for work. But no, they dangerously park and clog up the area around the school with their cars.

Sad really, all those children should be walked to and from school. It's so much better for them in so many ways. I understand mornings are a rush but really the amount of cars surrounding school gates is dangerous (I have seen a few near-misses over the years which is probably why it bothers me. I approached out local MP for a pedestrian crossing person). The school have tried 'walk to school' initiatives but they don't work.

When they turn up an hour early every day for pick-up (to get the closest space they possibly can) and sit there with their engine running they are plainly not short of time.

Honestly, motorists are an arrogant and entitled bunch in general, and parents on the school run are the worst. A friend witnessed a car crush a pram when someone mounted the pavement, luckily the pram was well-built and protected the baby. Kids and motor vehicles don't mix, streets within a few hundred yards of schools need closing off to motor vehicles where possible.

We used to have a drop off and pick up system. Cars came in through the gate, drove round the parking area, past the front of the school and children were dropped or picked up. Parent stayed in car and staff were there to supervise and police. Children picked up on foot were collected from the rear playground. All went well until the day we had a load of trees delivered to be planted in the car park. Despite requests to not deliver at either the beginning or end of the school day, they were delayed en route and turned up just before pickup. They were then taken out of the lorry and laid out on the ground completely blocking the route round. That was fun! Luckily we had underground parking for staff so had to route parents through that as we had separate entrance and exit.

In some areas it is quicker to cycle

There's only one way to solve infractions like this, and all anti-social crime to be honest and that's with zero tolerance. £60 fine each time, every time, fully enforced.

But our councils and government don't care and squander every penny so it will never happen.

What is needed I suggest is treating the sort of behaviour that is being described on this thread as a child protection issue with appropriate penalties and treatment for the perps

It didn’t use to be a problem when you went to the school based on your postcode.

@NeatCoralMember Our local school has a school bus but half the children entitled to travel on it don't use it for some bizarre reason.

I’ve seen parents who live less than 250m from the school dropping their kids off in the car.

I guess they could be going straight on to work afterwards, but when they live that close I do wonder whether they’re actually saving any significant amount of time by driving the kids to school.

In our city you have cameras and you get fined 100 pounds for parking , so streets about half a mile from school are used for drop of , so now those streets have no parking in them. One does not know the answer even a friend wants to use our front drive as a car park as we have room for one small car , that's ours , answer walk or cycle l suppose to school .

Not fines, driving bans. Lengthy ones, second time a ban for life.

Let's hope more people start doing that

In a small village, why are parents driving their kids to school when they’re 10/11? Surely they can walk by themselves at that age? Do they never play outside at all unsupervised in the holidays or in the evenings?
I do understand if they have a fair distance to go and across a busy road/ through a park etc.

Yes. Principle and another member of staff outside the school telling people to move their cars

In our village the problem is that the other small village schools have closed so ours now covers 4 small villages and all the kids from the other 3 have to come by car as there are no service buses and the roads between the villages don’t have pavements.