Share your stories of disastrous school runs in the car with Direct Line - £300 voucher prize draw!NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

Direct Line have asked us to find out Mumsnetters’ stories from the school run.

Here’s what they say: “We recently found a fifth of drivers didn’t know if their motor insurance policy entitled them to a hire or courtesy car following an accident or theft. Yet 77 per cent said one was either critical or important to them.”

We know that the school run can be a pretty stressful part of the day and with this in mind, we’d like you to share your most horrific or funny stories from your school run with your family. What kinds of things have happened to you whilst on the school run? Maybe you’ve been in an accident on the way to school? What happened and how did you continue your journey? Or you might have driven off with your handbag on the roof, perhaps you've even forgotten to bring a child home?! Whatever your stories are we’d love to hear them!

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Taking our kids to school and the head went on our hilux, it over heated badly but were stuck in a lane with nose to tail traffic and a bus lane beside, it started to make weird noises so pulled into the bus lane and turned into asda car park as soon as poss, lifted the bonnet and the radiator top just came off and a geyser proceeded to erupt about 20ft high. that was an unpleasant experience. On another trip to school the brakes went on the car, (should never have got an alpha! lol) turned out the garage put oil in the brake reservoir! that was a very unpleasant experience and fortunate nobody was hurt.

My school run is down narrow lanes. I regularly have to pull in or back up to let other people pass. On arrival at school for pick up I realised I was missing my bumper! However my eagle eyed DC spotted it by a wall on the way home and we stopped, picked it up and reattached it!

running very late for school without realizing parked outside someone drive and went to the school with DS. Came back and it was clamped by the owner of driveway who wanted £50 to release it. Had no money begged and pleaded with him started to cry made a scene yet he was unmoved had to borrow money from another mother to just get away from there

We always cycle to school or scooter, while I use my electric wheelchair, so there are no car based dramas. However, I can remember times when both DD and DS have had melt downs on the way home, in the middle of the road, and not moved for quite some time whilst shouting and crying. Thankfully that doesn't happen now, it was rather difficult to deal with because I just had to wait for them to calm down!

DS1 decided at 8.28 he'd like to be sandwiches not dinners (need to go by 8.30...) threw a packed lunch together. Got in car and about half mile in got asked where his lunchbox was (I asked him to carry it as he's 8 and I have to younger ones). Cue, me driving back home to look for lunchbox (now 8.38!) couldn't find it in the house. Suddenly heard a shout from the car and he was sat on it!!!

An elderly driver backed into me a couple of days ago, just as I was getting to school. A lorry was trying to beckon her out of the junction because he couldn't turn with a car there, but she obviously misunderstood his very clear gestures, so reversed. She didn't notice me there at all, even though I was beeping my horn when I saw her go into reverse, and she didn't even notice when she hit me . Off she pootled, with a crumpled bumper.

Luckily my tank of a car was more or less unscathed, but I looked like a very cross beetroot standing in the playground when the children came out.

Luckily we haven't had any horror school runs in the car yet as our son only started school a month ago and we walk most days.

We did have a lucky escape last week when a learner driver came round a roundabout and ended up on the other side of the road mounting the pavement where we were waiting to cross and almost got knocked over by them which is probably the worst thing to happen so far.

Seeing DC's teacher struggling up the hill, and we offered her a lift, she gratefully received our offer, and asked DC sat in the back what we'd got up to the previous week-end, "Mummy and Daddy did drink lots of Vodka, and laid down a lot". The teacher didn't know what to say, and I could have DIED!!! This was a complete fib, we don't drink Vodka, when I asked DC later why she'd said this, she simply said "It was funny". :)

Once travelling in a car my daughter told me she felt sick , the only thing I had to hand was my brand new coat. needless to say I had to throw the coat away and we turned straight back home.

Thanks everyone for your stories! This thread has now closed. Congrats to angiehoggett who has won the prize draw for a £300 Love2Shop voucher! We'll be in touch soon

One morning on the way to school I went to push the brake pedal and found that it didn't work! I pumped it frantically, but nothing. Luckily we were going low speed and eventually I got some resistance and pulled the handbrake up. Luckily even though we went right across the road instead of stopping, the cars usually parked there had gone and noone was hurt. It turned out that something had corroded and given way so that it had let all the brake fluid out! Absolute nightmare - we got the AA to tow it away and get it repaired asap.