Just been abused on the school run.. parking!

[Notthedreadedschoolrunagain]

My three children attend two separate schools on the same road. I always make sure I park somewhere that isn’t blocking someone’s drive etc. DH parked in the usual spot today and I waited in the car today (I have a disability and get flare ups in the colder weather). She pulled up to the window effing and blinding then she got out the car and started recording me swearing in front of all the school kids. DH returned back and she started to recording DH and the kids. It was her dad’s property and she had accused us of blocking him in. We left more than enough space for him to get out I even offered to move the car.

I have attached a pic (the silver car wasn’t in front so if her dad needed to get out he had more than enough space. We parked on the white mark and there are other parents parked behind us.

I am trying to move my kids to a nearer school so I can walk and finally put the parking drama to bed. However currently going through the appeals process as the local school has stated that they have no space.

Were we unreasonable? I’m at the stage where I don’t even want to take them to school now because of lack of parking and the dirty stares and arguments being caused by this. I can appreciate it’s frustrating living near a school!

"(c) The op's car is only there for a limited time - what 5 - 10 minutes? So it's hardly causing a real problem.
(d) Op's car isn't unattended, she's sitting in it

Right so if you got home with a car full of shopping you'd be perfectly happy to wait 5 or 10 minutes?

Because anyone who says this means that their time is more important than the person's they've blocked....

And anyone who buys a house with a drive to park on it doesn't do so for the privilege of stopping in their car in the road during school pick up no less, getting out maybe, then asking an entitled stranger to please move your car so I can park on my own land then getting back in to a chorus of beeps and horns from all the parents they've now inconvenienced...

No, our road is fine, because the school is supportive. Why would anyone in our road want to move if the parking got bad. We could just get residents only parking put in between certain times. Most councils allow this.

Then you are looking at a different white mark

You are being unreasonable. It’s really difficult to manoeuvre out if someone is overhanging a dropped kerb.

Parents on the school run can be extremely entitled and rude and she or her dad probably has to deal with this twice a day, 5 days a week.

Thing is, people who live that close to the schools get pissed off with the drop offs and pick ups. The congestion is awful. Those who can walk should. When I used to do the school run there were people who got in the car to drive just into the next road. The sense of entitlement is astonishing.

Well it might be, we don't know.

Abuse is never ok.. However the end of the white mark is well over the start of the drop curb, and so is the back of the silver car. I can understand why the person was at the end of her tether. Two cars, both illegally parked over her drive and a woman in one of them who decides to argue with her, instead of profusely apologise and move the car!

You parked over the dropped kerb (yes yes we heard it was just the teeniest tiniest bit). Apparently abuse is what it takes for people like you to stop parking like this. I have zero sympathy for people who park in a such an inconsiderate and entitled way…yes even if it’s the teeniest tiniest bit.

Ditto. Same near our office in the centre of our village. Nightmare at school times as so many parents simply can't be bothered to walk a few minutes more. There's literally entire roads just a minute or two further walk where cars could park easily with no blockages nor congestion, but parents almost fight with each other to get the few spaces closest to the school, including parking on double yellows, blocking H markings over drives etc. It's insane!

Same at our local football ground which is right in the middle of a residential area. Cars blocking driveways, parked blocking pavements, churning up grass verges, etc generally causing chaos. I park, literally, 5 minutes further away where there is lots of parking on relatively wide roads with houses only on one side, so not causing any inconvenience. Despite only 5 minutes further away, usually only a handful of cars there and plenty of spaces, yet as I walk closer to the stadium, it's nothing but chaos, congestion, people shouting at eachother etc.

Some people havn't the sense they were born with and don't give a toss about anyone else as they're clearly conditioned to park as close as possible to their destination and sod everyone else!

I totally agree, most parents parking seem to be forgetting that the residents need to get out safely with extra room to see when there are young children about.

Sorry op but you are on the dropped curb and you are partially blocking their driveway! I get so sick and tired of the arrogance of people who say “well we left room for them to get out” as if you feel you are entitled to partially block someone’s access to their home!

Not only that but if they’re trying to pull out of their drive, how are they supposed to see if any traffic is coming if your car is stuck there blocking their view. It’s quite frankly dangerous. You have no right to have the back end of your car covering part of their driveway. Stop being so entitled!

Yes, children have legs. No wonder we are facing so much obesity.

You are entitled and you are blocking their access as they aren’t able to see properly if backing out of the driveway due to your car being stuck there. Have some self respect and get a grip. I have no sympathy for you!

Ok, I'll bite.

I get tons of 'non issue' parking.

'Oh, I was only picking up the children; I'll be five minutes!' (Yes: me too, and because you blocked my driveway, I now can't park and pick up my own child.)

'Oh, I was barely over it.' (Yes: have you looked at what I am driving, which needs all the room.)

'Well my child gets really upset and I need to park as close to school as I can!'

'Could you not park somewhere else so we school mums can get a space?' (I am both a school mum, and parking on my own drive/outside my own house)

'I have to park here because there are yellow zig-zig lines closer to school!'

'It's only 10 minutes!' (Yes: I drop DD at 8.45 and I am due in to work at 8.50; I have 5 minutes spare, so if you take ten I will be pretty furious.)

'Are you sure I can't park here? You do.'

It gets very tedious.

And yet you did just that....

You should have been a few inches over but the lady was BU as you were only blocking her gate so obviously she could get in/out as her car cant go on that bit!

This. I live near a primary school it’s unbelievable to see people arriving early by 30 minutes or more just to get as close as possible to the school gate. Inconsiderate parking right up to the main road junction, blocking both sides of the main road so buses struggle to get through.
parking this near to a dropped kerb is very selfish no wonder that resident was angry as you would be op if people kept parking like this in front of your house.

She shouldn’t have shouted at you. I couldn’t live beside a school so understand that she may have been on her last nerve with drivers collecting children and the daily manic routine.

tbh it doesn't look too bad to me - as PP have said, that's a very long dropped length for the width of the actual drive. It extends beyond the fence and pedestrian gate. I'm not entirely sure how a car on that driveway would be obstructed by something where the white mark is - it looks a good half car length away from the bit you can park on.

Obviously we can't see the width of the road, so if they would have to do a lot of shuffling to get out then I might change my mind.

Looking closely at the picture, it looks like there's a hole at the end of the driveway where a bar to pin a gate closed used to go and that's not remotely in the middle of the area you could park a car in now. Possibly it used to be a wider driveway and the fence and pedestrian gate have shrunk its width at some point?

It’s not the children though it’s the lazy parents who won’t walk usually

What you’ve drawn shows you parking over the dropped kerb. Which isn’t allowed.

The dropped kerb area includes the slopes on both sides.

This. And/or they think their time and lives and jobs are more important than everyone else.

Even a bit over a dropped kerb can make getting out incredibly hard and / or seriously impede visibility. She absolutely shouldn’t have abused you but that doesn’t change whether your parking was ok. Either you were over the kerb in which case you were incorrectly parked and selfish or you were right up to the lowest part of a dropped kerb and might not have technically been incorrectly parked but were still selfish.

Her wrong doesn’t make your wrong right.

She was probably sick of people like yourself blocking the drive way.

I don't think shouting at you was right but I would have asked you to move your car.

We live on a road that is popular for dropping children off for secondary school. Most of my drive has a wide dropped curb and yet people have no problem blocking it, neither do Amazon drivers or my neighbours visitors or trademens. It makes me really cross when my 18yr old is trying to get herself to work. I'm really used to it now, I often go out and ask people to move if one of us is trying to move our car and can't. I put a double drive in to reduce traffic problems when my daughter was learning to drive.