Terrible parking during school run

[grey12]

At both DD's schools, the amount of people who are terrible parkers is mind blowing!!! The double yellow lines and school zigzag markings are barely visible with cars parked on them!!!! Do they not know it's illegal??? Or why it's illegal??? A small child is going to be run over one of these days!!!!

Is it just my council?! Or does this happen everywhere?

[PresentingPercy]

School parking fines won’t pay for a traffic warden. They might in the first week. It’s not going to happen. Also people in small cars flung doors open too. If they open a door in the path of a cyclist or motorbike it’s catastrophic. It’s not just a big car problem!

[underneaththeash]

I discounted a couple of schools in Hampstead as the parent's parking was horrendous.

There's always things you can do to prevent bad parking on your road. Annoying stickers, parking car right up to the bumper on either side, something unpleasant on the door handle etc....

[lorisparkle]

We have parents parking on both sides of the road blocking access for emergency vehicles onto school site. Even though on one occasion an ambulance was unable to get onto the school site when a child had a seizure, parents still block the road. They have been told frequently. They have also been asked repeatedly to allow access for coaches when the children return from school trips but again they ignore the requests.

[tissueboxx]

Posted too soon. At my dc school everyone was ticketed about a year ago.

The main offender got a ticket and still parks on zigzags daily.

[tissueboxx]

Parents know they just don't care.

In the school I used to work at we reminded the parents in the newsletter weekly, put up signs etc. Eventually a child was hit and broke his leg, didn't change anything for long.

[BrigitsBigKnickers]

Same near the school where my DDs went and this was 15 years ago. One day when I was walking DD to school some stupid cow not only pulled up on the pavement next to the zig zags, she proceeded to fling open the door of her huge jeep oblivious to the small pedestrians walking by. If I hadn't been quick off the mark and grabbed the door as it opened DD would have been sent flying. The filthy look she gave me for daring to lay a hand on her car was comical. So was her face a few weeks later when the traffic warden paid a visit one morning and gave her a ticket!

[grey12]

@70isaLimitNotaTarget I do fantasise as well that a traffic warden comes and tickets everyone! IMO, they don't need to be ticketing people who have gone over their paid parking by 5 minutes.... maybe their time would be better spent in keeping school kids safe

[RaspberryCoulis]

Do they not know it's illegal??? Or why it's illegal???

Oh they know. They just don't care.

We live a couple of doors away from a primary school and we see it every day. There are loads of spaces in a car park 5 minutes or less walk away but the precious little pickles couldn't POSSIBLY walk that far!

Total selfish, self-centredness. Residents complain, schools send emails, it gets better for 2 minutes, first wet day they're back, parked as close to the gate as they can humanly get.

[Winesalot]

I had a women park across me drive because she knew it pissed me off. She did it most days to pick up her kids from her mum across the road a bit. Her mother told her she was completely within her legal rights (mother used to work at council). I asked her to stop so many times and quoted the council by-law even but to no avail.

It took me asking her when her husband was in the car who asked what the hell was happening watching while the aggressive mother was trying to block my talking to the daughter in the driver seat. The husband basically said that the pair were in the wrong and what the hell did they think they were at. And the women admitted she was doing it deliberately even when there was parking closer because she wanted to ‘show me’.

The car has never been back across the drive.

[Zodlebud]

My friend lived next door to a private school and had a lady who seemed to think it was ok to park on her driveway to do drop off and pick up - an arrangement she had apparently had with the previous owners. When she explained that actually she, as the new owner, was not happy with that arrangement the lady told her there really wasn’t anything she could do - and she was right!!!!

The police can’t get involved as it’s seen as a civil matter. You can get the car towed at your expense but any damage to the car and you’re liable, or you can spend thousands on a legal case.

In the end she installed electric gates but she got the man who delivered the huge bags of stuff to make the cement to handily drop it off on her driveway and block the lady in. She had left a note on her windscreen the day before asking her not to park there due to the delivery so it was her own stupid fault.

My friend hid in her house and watched the builder stroke his chin whilst he told her it was going to take two to three days for it to be moved. Lady didn’t have a leg to stand on as she had been informed it was happening and my friend hadn’t done anything wrong.

Lady then took to parking in front of her new gates. Some people just really are horrible (and my friend moved).

[Elieza]

@PresentingPercy i didn’t forget. Please reread my post where I said

“The answer is more staff serving the public. More tax inspectors would recoup more money from catching tax evaders than their salaries cost. More parking wardens and police could also bring in more money in fines than their salary costs”.

If people get fined for parking illegally and it’s taken to court every time and happens regularly then in theory they would learn from their own and others mistakes. And not do it again.

In the meantime their fines would pay for the public purse to hire police, tax inspectors or administrators to continue enforcing the law.

Eventually no more fines would be brought in if people stopped law breaking and those staff would no longer be required and natural wastage would happen.

That would be my suggestion for increasing prosecution for crimes at no extra cost to the public purse.

[Winesalot]

It is true that the only things they can do is ask politely in newsletters, or publish number plates and photos of cars, or have a large banner in front reminding parkers. Or have a senior teacher talk to parents as they come through the school gates.

I know all about how aggressive people get when they know they have bent the rules.

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

I was late to pick up my children this week- party because I couldn't get onto the road where the school is (last pick up) due to the bad driving and parking. The response from the school was they presumed it was the case, as they know if the the driving issue but can't physically force the parents to be courteous. (Giving way on a road with only room for one column of moving traffic- not giving way to traffic coming the other direction).

[PastMyBestBeforeDate]

I don't know what schools can do though Wines. Some parents will be aggressive or unpleasant if challenged in person. The school has no power over the road outside. Our school sends pleas for sensible driving and parking out regularly but it makes no difference.

[Winesalot]

It happens everywhere. There was a thread here recently on parking across people’s driveways where there were people saying it was entitled to feel you should be able to access your driveway! Yes!!!!

That if someone was parked across the entrance of your drive, you should just expect they had a greater need and that you should park elsewhere (even if it cost you money to park elsewhere!!) until that person no longer needed to park there. Oh! And it is a favour that a person leaves a note on the dash with their phone number.

So when you have people who think this, of course people ignore road markings. They get away with it and if the school doesn’t do anything, they will continue. I live across a very narrow street from the school entrance and I see it everyday.

[PresentingPercy]

Elieza: you forget that the man on the street has to pay for all these extra people. Businesses are on their knees. Council tax is not being paid because of Covid. Where do you think the money is coming from when we are heading for millions unemployed and companies scaling back? It’s about the attitude of parents and some effort being made by schools to curb their parents parking excesses. Taking number plates and shaming has been tried!

[PresentingPercy]

Yes, a blue badge can park on double yellows in a school road. However I thought the conversation was about double yellows at the school entrance. The government web site says no to this. Which is sensible. If you are not at the entrance then it’s fine. My mistake - I didn’t realise you were further down the road.

[BecomeStronger]

It's a small snap shot everyday of just how selfish a lot of people are. Of course they agree children need to be safe but their child is safe, getting out of the car onto the pavement directly outside the school gate and they really dont care too much about anyone else's. Even when there is a tragedy, people aren't really upset for the bereaved, they're thinking about how they would feel in the same circumstances.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Often parents with older relatives who had BB would park (really badly) leave the relative in the car and fetch the child ( which is not corrrect use of a BB)

I used to fantasise about being a Parking Warden ( I'd 'ave you . And you . And every bloody day you do that . I;d have you too )

[Elieza]

It’s the pace of life coupled with a sense of entitlement, thinking bending rules is ok as it’s “not that bad”, and little fear of repercussions.

People are busy to take the time to walk to collect dc or too busy to park in the next street and walk round to the school gates. They are in a hurry. Possibly to get home to continue working from home. Busy busy busy. Rush rush rush. No time to smell the roses.

Society seems to encourage us to be individual to not be afraid to go for whatever we want. To strive to earn more and more money as that means success. Unfortunately to some that means do what you want to make life work for you even if it means bending the rules, as long as you don’t bend them too much that’s ok isn’t it, it’s not like we are committing a major crime is it...

Then there aren’t enough police or traffic wardens as governments and councils try to balance finances so people aren’t asked to pay even more tax. So crimes that should have financial consequences don’t get touched as the courts are full and the public servants that would previously have done the paperwork have either left and not been replaced or made redundant or because of increased workloads lumped into them there aren’t enough staff/isn’t enough time any more to do any of it.

The answer is more staff serving the public. More tax inspectors would recoup more money from catching tax evaders than their salaries cost. More parking wardens and police could also bring in more money in fines than their salary costs.

But it doesn’t happen as governments and newspapers tell us there are too many public servants stretching the public purse and downsize the services. The man on the street believes this and goes along with it. Successive politicians (not just one party) and council leaders don’t want to lose his vote so they agree.

This is just one example of the result.
Which I will probably get flamed for saying by the people who want to continue to break rules or who think I am having a go at a particular political party, which I am not.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

It's been going on for years,

I noticed it when my DC were in Primary/Junior ( youngest DC has just started University so you can tell how long ago !)

One parent used to amuse me . I could see her house from the road where the school was .But she always drove , got there really early to bag a space right outside
And no, there was no additional or mobilty issues in parent or child .

[lorisparkle]

Certainly happens everywhere. I think it is a sense of entitlement that parents can park as close as possible to school. There is a mini roundabout near our primary school and a crossing place just before it, A parent parked on the hashings in the middle of the road next to the crossing place!! They also park on the path/road near the crossing point so any buses or lorries can't fit through the gap. Luckily my youngest is now in year 6 so walks or cycles by himself.

[Herbie0987]

It happens everywhere, near one school my children went to a mother lived less than 100 metres from the school, drove her son and collected him everyday. I knew the parent and child and there were no special needs.

[Charleyhorses]

Literally happens everywhere.
I have proof. We moved to this tiny town. 1 primary school. It is next to the huge car park in the town. (Large due to tourist industry)
People have to drive through the car park practically to park on the double yellow lines outside the school. So they don't have to queue to exit the car park.

[Hugepeppapigfan]

It’s quite normal for some parents to feel that rules don’t apply to them with regards to anything to do with school....