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!

School parking is very difficult. There seem to be more children, yet no more schools (a lot of the ones in my county were one form entry a generation ago, now both primaries and high schools have literally 3 times the number of students). Also it used to be common to let all but very young children walk/cycle in, but not so much now. Plus more parents work. I thought wfh might help, as more might have been able to walk in, but that doesn't seem to have happened.

This all means it's a topic that causes issues, and is talked about lots on social media, so really gets lots of people riled up. Doesn't make it ok for her to be verbally abusive. But it's also not ok to park over a dropped kerb, if that is what the photo shows.

You sound very entitled - saying that you were parkung there regularly and never noticing her... why is it relevant?
You were partially obstructing the driveway.

I'm not sure that recording a possible parking violation is abuse, so why I don't agree with the verbal part, YABU.

I live near a school and people park like absolute dicks.

It's not just about whether you are parked on a dropped kerb or not. It's about the width of the road, whether there is anyone parked directly opposite the drive and lots of other factors.

OP is clearly expecting everyone to agree that she did not park like a dick, when nobody can tell from that picture.

YABU. My parents live very close to a school and people park like you have all the time blocking them in or restricting them manoeuvring off their drive way. The entitlement is unbelievable.

What are you talking about? It’s illegal to park across a dropped curb and it’s a fucking nightmare trying to back out of a drive when someone has the back end of their car obstructing part of your front as well as being dangerous as you can’t see past their car to get off your drive and onto the road safely. it causes accidents!

And what’s driving across a pavement got to do with anything?

it’s a fucking nightmare trying to back out of a drive when someone has the back end of their car obstructing part of your front as well as being dangerous as you can’t see past their car to get off your drive and onto the road safely

Even more so when someone is parked in a similar manner at the opposite side of a narrow road.

Or someone parked slightly on the dropped curb over my driveway and someone else parked opposite my drive at the same time is my idea of a nightmare.

Good luck, stay safe.

Yes. I do understand that you get a penalty for parking across any part of a dropped kerb. That’s why I’d change the law to allow it. That way parking spaces wouldn’t be denied to other drivers on a public road, 24/7. The house owner would have to use the dropped kerb only when it was free and available to go in or out.

Anyway, that is the law. But you seem to think that people should also give up parking space that’s too near a dropped kerb, to allow the house owner visibility. That’s not enforcement of a legal right. It’s just entitlement.

The risks to people walking on pavements by cars driving across the pavement is another problem created by dropped kerbs.

It’s really not difficult to understand.

OP: Am I being unreasonable?

Responses: On balance probably

OP: No I'm not

why even bother to ask

This.

You sound an absolute recipe for disaster!

“The house owner would have to use the dropped kerb only when it was free and available to go in or out.”

So how do they get in and out of their drive if someone is parked across their driveway which has a dropped curb? You do realise all driveways have a dropped curb in front of them don’t you? In fact you do realise the reason dropped curbs are in existence is so that cars are able to get in and out of spaces? So in order to allow the home owner to get in and out you wouldn’t be able to change the law to allow people to park on dropped curbs duh!

Im sorry but you sound batshit and you don’t seem to have a clue what you’re talking about.

“The risks to people walking on pavements by cars driving across the pavement is another problem created by dropped kerbs.”

Yeh alright then, let’s just abolish driveways altogether so that everyone everywhere has to park on the street and clog the roads…. Right-i-o then! I mean who needs a driveway next to their home anyways! At least pedestrians won’t get killed if they happen to walk into a car that’s going about 2mph when it drives over a dropped curb to access the drive 🤣🤣🤣

Hmm. I think the basic part of “public road” has gone missing with you.

I realise that there are dropped kerbs in front of drives. I regret that because I think it’s a misuse of public roads. A dropped kerb means that nobody can park there. Even if the householder never uses it. On a public road I think that’s wrong. Roads should have as much parking as possible.

Where I live there’s a nearby road with big-fronted houses that was always possible to park in. The council wouldn’t allow dropped kerbs there. Then they started allowing them. There are now very few parking spaces on that public road. The parking is now ten times worse in the area.

I appreciate it’s very unlikely ever to happen, but one solution would be to allow parking across dropped kerbs. People with drives would then no doubt park across the kerb themselves and when they’re not there another car could use the space. The house owner could still use the drive if the parking is light enough to be confident you can get out. And they could still store their car in the drive when the kerb’s free to go in, like if you’re away on holiday.

Where there are particular issues with on-street parking availability for residents, councils can use controlled zones.

And there’s always the issue of cars crossing pavements.

I live near a school and it is bedlam at school drop off and pick up times but I choose to live near a school. It only lasts 15-20 mins twice a day. It’s no big deal. That woman needs to get a life!

A dropped curb is to allow ease of a car to go across a pavement to access a space such as a driveway or a car park or some other parking area. It would damage a car’s bumpers if you had them drive over a curb that had not been lowered! Jesus wept!

Dopped curbs exist for a very valid reason. Get over it, the law is never going to change just because you have some batshit idea popped in your head. Use your common sense and understand why dropped curbs are in existence rather than trying to argue about nothing that makes any real sense. It is NOT a misuse of public roads, you cannot drive a car over a high curb, it would damage the car for a start! Hence why curbs are dropped in certain areas such as a cross driveways! Get a grip!

i thought you weren't meant to reverse onto the highway. you're meant to reverse into your driveway, and come back out forwards, for the very reason that reversing makes it more likely to injure someone.

There are many, many people who reverse off their driveway. If that’s the case then reversing from the road onto a pavement and into your driveway is also extremely risky. I’m not here to argue the ins and outs about reversing, I’m saying that regardless of whether you’re reversing off a drive or pulling forwards off your drive, a car parked right over the dropped curb on your front is an obstruction to your view when trying to get off a driveway safely

Yes. I understand what a dropped kerb is and why it’s used.

What I said seems to have gone over your head.

We all pay for roads and their upkeep. We all have the same rights when driving on the roads. We all have the same rights to park on roads (subject to zoning, or disabled bays or other properly reserved spaces). I think it’s wrong that some households can deny parking to all others just for their own convenience.

And there’s inherent risk in driving a car across a pavement.

I hope that makes things clearer.

The Highway Code - Using the road (159 to 203) - Guidance - GOV.UK

Rule 201
Do not reverse from a side road into a main road. When using a driveway, reverse in and drive out if you can.

It’s gone over my head because you’re talking nonsense. The law isn’t ever going to change to allow people to park over dropped curbs because dropped curbs are there to allow access for a car to get into a car park or a driveway or somewhere else! You can’t just block the entrance of a car park by allowing people to park across the entrance to a car park or driveway because the curb is dropped and you don’t agree with the law. Absolute batshit and I’m not arguing with you over it because there’s no sense in what you’re saying! Dropped curbs are there to allow access to certain spaces. That’s why they exist. You can’t allow people to park on a dropped curb because you’d be blocking the access to whatever the dropped curb is allowing access to 🙄

What makes you think I’m talking about main roads?? My house is on a quiet cul de sac! Also says reverse in and drive out IF YOU CAN. Not all driveways are wide enough to be able to reverse in very easily.

Also dropped kerbs are very useful for people in wheelchairs

🤦‍♀️

Exactly. But certain people seem to want to change the law so that people should be allowed to park on dropped curbs… which means wheelchair users would, I’m afraid have to somehow wheel themselves off a high part of the curb and possibly risk toppling over if that poster had their way 🙄