Have zero sympathy for parents for parents being fined for breaking parking rules outside schools

[fld]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/parents-slam-school-parking-madness-10674874?utm_source=mynewsassistant.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=embedded_search_item_desktop

Parents are moaning about CoL with fines parking on double yellow, zig zags etc.

One stupid quote from a parent
"I don’t understand why the fines are being handed out anyway. For those who park up more than 30 minutes at a time, fair enough they should be fined but for those who park for 10 minutes there needs to be more understanding."
"Times are hard as it is anyway and adding that extra expense of the ticket, on top of living costs rising is just unnecessary. Its putting more pressure on parents. The money I spent on that fine could be spent on putting a smile on my child’s face."

Well if you read the Highway Code, leave a few minutes earlier and get your DC to walk either from home or park down a side street (not on parking restricted lines/bays) about 5 min walk from the school, you won't risk getting a fine.

No sympathy from me.

I believe the removing the boundaries for parents to apply for their DC to attend schools outside catchment areas isn't doing this any favours. In the old days when I was at school, if you wanted your DC to attend a certain school, you moved home.

Also what are the chances are these parents are driving newish (less than 3 years old) cars that cost them £50k?

How breathtakingly selfish of those parents.

Automatic number plate recognition I would support. Not fines, still would like to see points on licence and then driving bans.

They won’t like it one bit if their DC had to be carried in a similar way

No sympathy from me either. Do what we do and either leave earlier so we can get into the school car park, or park a couple of streets away and walk. The extra exercise never hurt anyone.

I was in a speedy awareness course once and a woman actually said that she HAD to speed otherwise she wouldn't get her kids to school on time. When someone suggested she leave earlier she said she couldn't get the kids out of bed earlier. Honestly the entitlement of some people.

I wish they could have taken her license off her

15 mins is not long to walk and only 5 mins on a bike

When did it become the norm for kids to be driven to school? I can count on a few hands the number of times I was driven to school. Generally I either walked, cycled or took the bus.

"My heart skips a beat when I see the wardens out. Which they send a team of six! "

The traffic wardens need to go to schools in a pack because they get verbally abused and threatened by the parents. Then they are reported for being abusive themselves (when they haven't been). At least in a group they have witnesses. Not speculation; I know an (ex) traffic warden who was reported a number of times by the same woman despite her having video evidence on her body cam that she was unfailingly polite but firm, and had been threatened by this woman.

And when you consider that most towns probably have between 6-10 traffic wardens for the entire area, there aren't enough to patrol all the schools at the same time let alone other areas between 8-9:30 am and 3-4 pm.

I used to work 10 minutes drive from home. That's 10 minutes in the holidays, and 20-25 minutes during term time. Double parking both sides of a major road outside a secondary school. I would walk about 1.5 miles to my primary school and about 2 miles to my secondary every day, by the time I was 10 on my own or with my sister/a friend.

Double parking both sides of a major road outside a secondary school.

Totally unnecessary. The vast majority of secondary school age pupils should be able to get themselves to and from school independently - and I'd have thought most would prefer to.

When my kids primary school got the traffic wardens in, it was pure entertainment.

People get weird on the school run.

I used to work at a large secondary school which was situated in a residential area, just off a busy main road.
We had so many complaints from nearby residents, it was insane. Every half term our school sent out reminders to parents about considerate parking but frankly they were ignored. We even put some of our own staff out on street to try and manage the situation but some parents were abusive to them as well as the residents. However, when the parking wardens started visiting that did finally resolve the issue. Some people are so selfish 🙄.

I agree with catchment area part op !
I went to a school I walked to and so did my children ! There shouldn't be any need to be all those cars at the school !
Now when I walk past the local school at pick up taking dog for a walk I avoid because it's so bad I probs end up getting run over by some twat ! I have zero sympathy for entitled drivers

Our school has a bit of a pick up and drop off zone, it’s not sufficient for everyone but it helps and it’s enough for wraparound, but for the normal school day I’d say 80% of the users are inconsiderate prats who leave their engines running with all the car fumes for however long they’ve been claiming their spot. So after school my toddler and I stand at the back school gate having walked surrounded by the smog about 6 feet from the gate. Fix one problem, create another - mainly because of entitlement!

It’s not new. Happened at my children’s primary school 20 years ago. One mother lived a few minutes from school. Insisted on driving them. Parked on lollipop man’s zig-zags. Outed by school with her personalised number plates. She didn’t care! I liked her. But the attitude!

I live right near a local primary school and it’s ridiculous how entitled and rude so many parents are. So many live incredibly close to school too so they could solve their problem by just walking but they absolutely must park as close to school as possible 🙄

Some of the parents near our local school drive me crackers. There's a large nature area opposite where folks walk their dogs, its down a short lane with a large free carpark. Except they some of them are too lazy to walk the extra thirty seconds to the carpark itself so they park in the passing places on the lane making getting in and out of said carpark absolute mayhem.

fld thank you, that might be the best thing I’ve read in years 😂 Kudos to the reporter too, nice, tight prose. Tip of the hat for finding a middle-aged mansplainer to round it all out

Still don’t get why parents take their high school aged kids to school. Teens love to chat with their mates. Even seen them walking 1.5 miles from the academy as that is the length of the town. Would seeing someone in your year bring dropped off at the entrance be a focal point for bullying? It was the case 30 years ago. A lad was bullied because his mum dropped him off. He was called no legs. ‘Blimey No Legs you can walk between blocks’. Then tried to trip him up

The only times I can remember my parents picked me from school is if I had a medical or dental appointment about 40 mins after school finished. Probably 3 times a year max

Well on the case of my DDs school... it would be over 3 miles walk each way. There is a bus that will get them there at 7.45. (Nearly an hour before school starts).
As for the villages served by the school bus... there is only one return time, at 3pm. So the only way to do extra curricular clubs is the parents picking up, as there isn't a normal bus for that route

The school catchment is 7 miles in sone directions. Anyone not in catchment isn't entitled to the school bus either. So any parents chosing out if catchment also have to drive.

Dh does take our oldest to secondary but that’s because it’s over an hour on the bus so he would be leaving for school before dh leaves for work and he drives by the school on his way so would seem a little mean haha

He does bus home however and gets dropped in the shopping centre car park not actually at the school.

Dd walks or bikes to her secondary school and Dd2 I walk to school but she’s primary.

But I do know parents who again live only a street or two away who drive them in because it’s cold/wet/dark/they got up late add a million reasons.

Parents
Rain is water, not pure acid!

No sympathy... I spent the primary years parking in a pub car park a few streets away from the school.

This was a village school and we were in the next town so had to use the car. School & pub landlord were working together to reduce traffic outside the school. My kids survived!

Imo I do think that there needs to be a safe parking option available around schools as the on road parking is just carnage! And let's face it, many parents are going to / from work via the school. Or don't allocate schools that are impossible to walk to..

Imo I do think that there needs to be a safe parking option available around schools

But as pp have said, often when there is a safe option, parents don't use it.

And many schools are in built up areas, and often school and houses were there before cars were thought of. There often just isn't land available to make a car park next to the school.

I am not disagreeing about the parking situation at all, but every single teen I know LOVES getting a lift 😂

Most are mortally embarrassed to be seen somewhere with their mum - and god forbid you'd say hi to their friends - but somehow the car is a totally different dimension.

If you pick up one - because sometimes you have to go to medical appointments, sports clubs or just because you were being nice that day - you end up taking 5 😂