Told off on school run

[J1xxx]

I am a single dad with a full time job as a solicitor in the cc, and therefore don't have much time to waste in the mornings. Today I was dropping my two dd's off at primary school and was running late for work so I pulled up outside school and let them get out and go to the playground together (they are in years 4+5 so responsible enough to cross a road). Anyway later on when picking them up I was confronted by one of the teaching assistants who waits at the gates who said I had been driving dangerously! I was quite embarrassed and told her I was very busy and it was none of her business. Am I in the wrong?

I hope the OP has managed to do the school run without incident today.

Ah, you are a man, I see.

Therefore you are wrong.

Nope, nothing to do with being a man and everything to do with being self important and looking down on the 'little people'.

Change your name and re-register OP. This will be held against you, forever!

If you had driven at 5mph and parked up properly and apologised for your children being late, do you think the TA might have given you a warmer reception?

If you were told you would be given £1m if you had done so, would that have motivated you?

I expect you didn't drive as safely as you should have and you are now feeling a bit defensive.

Oh yes. Namechange. We can then look out for busy male solicitor Range Rover driving fathers of Year 4 and 5 children under the new name.

Um, yes, parking 'sticking out' opposite a school is dangerous driving and probably illegal as you should know. As others have said, your personal circumstances do not trump the safety of other road users, particularly children near a school.

Anyone else got a picture of a cheery lolllipop lady at the top of this page 😊

Maybe the TA thought it was dangerous for your kids to step out from behind your "tank of a range". They are rather high.

You'd be better off teaching your kids to stay on the pavement until you've driven off and then crossing the road after you've left and their view is less obscured.

None of us were there, so we can't say whether or not your driving was dangerous. The point is, the TA who is responsible for children's safety (because I don't think she waits by the gate for fun) thought it was. I'm concerned that your default response is to be rude. You've said that with hindsight and time to think of a response you would have done the obvious thing, and asked why she thought your driving was dangerous, and taken it from there. Good. So next time you pick your kids up, go over and apologise to her, and explain that you hadn't thought you were driving dangerously, but if she still remembers the incident you're willing to hear what she thought.

I do hope your children didn't hear you being rude to the TA.