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[i]means I don't have to interact with selfish people like you all describe[/i]
You do. Just at work, in shops, socially etc.
But not outside schools, I'll give you that.
The School Run should be banned.
Hear, hear!
Huge issues with this in my village.
Thankfully I avoid the normal drop-off/pick up times as I drop the kids at Breakfast club at 7.45 and we pick them up from after school club at 5pm.
On occasions when I've dropped off/picked up at 'normal time' I've been horrified at the state of the parking/driving/behaviour.
Some parents arrive at school 30-45mins early in the afternoon, just to get a space near the gate.
The school are trying to expand from one form to two form entry at the moment.
The planning application has been rejected 3 times by the local council, with the main reason being traffic/parking.
but I'm just amazed we survived in the 70s and 80s. Walking half a mile, a mile or more to school.
But in defence of those that drive their children, the world is a different place now. Like it or not we have more cars and more people have to drive further distances to work (when I was growing up almost everyone I knew had a dad who worked a few minutes from home and most mums stayed at home). Now people commute some silly distances and often both parents work. This puts time pressure on them to get their kids to school and, added to that, the roads are infinitely busier. The estate I grew up on as a kid used to have a car parked in each drive, now there are two, three, four or more cars parked on the drives, on the streets etc.
My kids' school is just shy of 2 miles from home (our catchment school, we didn't choose to go - but didn't want to risk not getting a place at a closer but not catchment school). The road is used as a rat run (and way too narrow to allow them to ride their bikes on it) and there isn't a continuous footpath either which would mean potentially dangerous crossings of the road.
I am in no way vindicating selfish drivers, but I can see why these days people prefer to ensure they get their kids to school in the (perceived) safest way possible.
Ohh, and the school isn't on a bus route and although there is a train station, we would have to drive further to get to the next stop on the line to put them on a train) 🙂
And a final edit - I always park further up the road away from the crush just outside the school and walk the 5 or so minutes in.
johndohBut in defence of those that drive their children, the world is a different place now.This puts time pressure on them to get their kids to school and, added to that, the roads are infinitely busier.
The difference between parking 1/2 a mile away and walking or queuing to park, then queing to leave again, all the while burning petrol and getting annoyed is going to be negligible. My neighbours, the ones who live across the street and drive their kid to school, they leave 5-10 minutes before me and get home after me.
I am in no way vindicating selfish drivers, but I can see why these days people prefer to ensure they get their kids to school in the (perceived) safest way possible.
I'm not questioning you but this logic fail does go to the heart of the issue. With paedomageddon in full swing you need to deposit junior right at the door (and the fight that implies). When there's nothing stopping you parking up and walking a bit with your kids.
Jimjam, I am not disagreeing with you, just pointing out reasons why some parents may feel they have to drive their kids to school.
And who mentioned paedos? Not me. That isn't the issue, it is a simple road safety issue.
It's selfishness, arrogance and laziness, but perfectly decent people seem to turn into these people when they [s]switch to protective parent mode[/s] get into their car.
FTFY.
Actually, I think we're both right: over-protective parent in a car is probably the worst of combinations.
Fundamentally many schools are in the wrong place
this is true in the case of my kid's school. originally when my eldest started the school was on a split site...the main school being 10 minutes walk away from the early years foundation unit. the new school was still under construction and was completed the following year. the new school is a very nice school with all the facilities you'd expect a modern primary school to have but its located on the corner of a very busy rat run that joins a very busy main road...my reasoning for the choice of location is that its a very short distance from the old sites (it actually sits in the middle of the old 2 sites and was probably the only piece of spare land they could build on.
traffic management at the end of the rat run road which runs past the school is abysmal and is dangerous for parents and children to cross...there is a lollypop lady who helps with crossing duties on the main road, but i think a proper traffic light controlled crossing system is needed at this junction to help traffic flow more easily and to help people cross safely...but the council refuses to entertain this idea
the school has several walking buses from various locations and has done the naming and shaming of bad driving/parking which has been quite successful
Actually, I think we're both right: over-protective parent in a car is probably the worst of combinations.
Surrounded by more over-protective, judgemental, stressed parents in cars.
fd3:
My drive is constantly blocked and the school passes the buck and the local councillor says she can't help.
The schools have no authority over the parking other than to ask parents to park responsibly in newsletters.
My G/F's a Headteacher and she's been threatened by a parent after she asked him to remove his inconsiderably parked car.......
It's a police issue.
Fundamentally many schools are in the wrong place
I suggest most schools are in OK places - we just built roads around them and houses away from them. More car culture.
Why do they need to park anyway? Pull over and turf the little darlings out then drive off.
Primary school near me parents arrive early with kids and park up nearby. Kids go into school and the parent(s) then walk home leaving the car outside of the school for the afternoon pickup??????
Why do they need to park anyway? Pull over and turf the little darlings out then drive off.
Multiply that by a few hundred and it's gridlock. Plus doesn't work so well when picking up, presumably.
i had the unfortunate pleaseure as working as a traffic safety engineer for ESCC for a year and then working with school in BHCC during their upgrades.
everyone wants parking to be resolved but parents are too self entitled to give a monkeys. even when kids get hurt/killed. i gave up this role as its totally pointless - its a societal mindset.
schools are getting budgets cut, teachers are getting laid off but ours has had to employ private parking attendant to prevent random parking in the disabled parking area/turning head/ main school access. then people complain about the costs?? its a messed up society
It does seem that parents with children seem to think that all motoring laws and common sense dont apply to them when it comes to taking children to school.
Some parents arrive at school 30-45mins early in the afternoon, just to get a space near the gate.
That really gets my goat at our young 'uns school. They actually have a little car park and have staggered the leaving times of all the classes, the idea being that parents get in and out at different times (albeit it 5 mins difference between class). The number of parents that get there 20 mins early and sit in the cars completely defeats any logic to this.
The number of times that I see cycle lanes parked in by parents at schools makes my decision to use parent/child parking bays at supermarkets (or wherever) the correct one. The extra wide bays mean that body work is protected a bit too.
No buses these days? My lad's been going on the bus since he was 2yo - it's dear (works out about 20eur a week, 4 journeys a day as he comes home for lunch), but as a result I have absolutely no idea what the parking situation is like outside the school, and I hope I never have.
Primary school near me parents arrive early with kids and park up nearby. Kids go into school and the parent(s) then walk home leaving the car outside of the school for the afternoon pickup??????
Yep, there a few who regularly do this at our kids school.
Mental.
It does seem that parents with children seem to think that all motoring laws and common sense dont apply to them when it comes to taking children to school.
It does seem that[b] a small minority of[/b] parents with children seem to think that all motoring laws and common sense dont apply to them when it comes to taking children to school.
No buses these days?
Ours doesn't - the road is so narrow that I reckon putting buses up and down it would amplify traffic issues.
I used to live in a block of flats near a school and would often come home to the same woman parked in my spot, the spot with the big number 12 painted on the ground saying to was for flat number 12, the spot in the car park around the back of the flats on private land...
Her justification was that her darling goes to the school and her and her husband own a few flats in the block, my answer was you don't own this flat so &^£( off out of my spot.
Now I live somewhere different and have kids we walk every day, rain or shine. The kids like it, I find it far more relaxing to walk and chat to them and we meet up with their friends on the way so they all have a good chat before getting to school.
Some of the mothers I see live that close to the school that they must spend more time putting the seat belt on and reversing out the drive than actually driving.
Both my kids walk to school on their own.
9yr old walks about 200m crossing 2 roads. Both 20 mile an hour. Zig-zags outside of school usually has at least one car parked on them. I get more annoyed with those who park on the junctions, blocking the dropped kerbs. I have spoken to several parents and most don't do to again.
12yr old walks about 15 mins with 3 mates.
Imagine how busy its going to get when we close all the boarding schools down. It will be mayhem I tell you.
My Dad was assaulted by a guy because he objected to a woman parking IN his drive while she waited for her kids. She came back the next day with hubby who broke my 76 yo Dad's collar bone. Birkhill Primary in Birkhill by Dundee for the Google street view. My old man was the local Vicar so unlikely to have been too confrontational. Some people are a-holes.
We are in the fortunate position of living about a 5 minute walk from school, its then a 10 minute walk (2min cycle) from school to my work. the school is at the end of a cul de sac so we only have to cross one road on the way. opposite out house is a pub (across the only road that needs crossing) with a big car park that any parents are allowed to park in. The village is about 1.5 miles across at its widest and it takes 45 minutes to walk a circuit of (I do it evey morning with the dog) therefore the maximum walk to school would be 25 minutes. BUT there are 2 other primay schools in the village so i reckon the maximum walk for 80% of attendees is 15 minutes from their home (or 5 minutes from the pub car park)
What pisses me of is that the cul de sac to school could be car free and kids could ride bikes, scooter and run to school with no worries.....does this happen? Does it heck.
only 4 cars park in the pub car park, everyone else gets as close as possible, I see people (who live a 2 minute walk from me) driving to school at 8.30 to get a good parking place!!! its all a bit mental.
People have a perceived lack of time and think the car is faster. I walk the kids up to school with my bike and ride form school to work. Several others work in the same place but drive. I get there earlier if I'm on the bike and about 2 minutes later if walking.
its all because people are really, really, really lazy.
maybe cars should be engineered so that there is a massive cost loading for the first 1-2 miles of any journey. So if you do 1-2 miles it costs you the same as 50 miles........
It would all work so much better if we lowered the age where you're allowed a driving licence to five and built multi-storey carparks next to schools. That way the kids could drive themselves to and from school.
Or we could go mad and create an infrastructure which makes it pleasant and safe to walk or cycle. The lowering of the driving age seems more likely though.
People have a perceived lack of time and think the car is faster.its all because people are really, really, really lazy.
You see similar albeit less extreme behavior in shops/shopping centres.....giant car parks with hundreds of empty spaces but people circling around so they can cram in on top of everyone else to get as close to the door as possible.
Now I live somewhere different and have kids we walk every day, rain or shine. The kids like it, I find it far more relaxing to walk and chat to them and we meet up with their friends on the way so they all have a good chat before getting to school.
Agreed. We walk, cycle or scoot. During the week, it's the only opportunity I get to have some proper 1:1 time with my daughter.
It's a bit nuts really isn't it. Similar at my kids school, but no illegal parking, just bone headed parking in a narrow cul de sac
Can you call the traffic wardens? They're usually happy to come out and issue a few tickets. A week of that could fix it?
I don't have kids and haven't experienced any of these problems but am always amazed at how some people behave.
I can almost see why people park on yellow lines, on pavements etc but I can never understand why they would think it's ok to park on someone's driveway. Does this really happen??
think it's ok to park on someone's driveway. Does this really happen??
I haven't seen anyone park *on* a drive, but I have seen someone park across the entrance so the home owner couldn't get his car out. When I got to my car the guy was having kittens about it but I didn't hang around to see what happened when the other driver turned up.
I can almost see why people park on yellow lines, on pavements etc but I can never understand why they would think it's ok to park on someone's driveway. Does this really happen?
Used to frequently have parents park across my driveway (shared with a neighbour) until said neighbour 'nudged' a car out of the way with his landrover tow bar 8)
think it's ok to park on someone's driveway. Does this really happen??
Try living in a tourist hotspot with a private parking area in front of your house and large courtyard between you and neighbours, with clear view of garages and sheds further up the back gardens.
Usually not an issue, but our "finest" moments:
- group of motorcyclists who just revved engines louder until mrs_oab showed the screen of her phone to them showing 'Killin Police Station' as ringing
- Group of landrover owners who saw two 110's parked on the grass of our garden and thought they should also use it
- the french tourist, who left car in the morning, climbed a mountain, went to pub for tea and a pint, and started using his 'Parisian' driving attitudes and bumper to move next doors new BMW out the way...
- countless visitors who just pulled up, and then would argue that (despite plant pots, two signs saying 'Private Parking', a nice brick pattern rather than tarmac and the owner of the house informing them it was private, and he would like to park his car or work minibus there) the parking wasn't private - and anyway, they themselves were only going to be a few minutes....
So yes, people will park ANYWHERE if they have enough sense of entitlement or cannot be ars*d.
My Dad was assaulted by a guy because he objected to a woman parking IN his drive while she waited for her kids. She came back the next day with hubby who broke my 76 yo Dad's collar bone.
😡
I do wonder if schools actually opened at an earlier time whether a lot of this could be avoided or at least stagger the clash of rush hour traffic.
I always took my daughter to school sat on my crossbar, she thought she was cool, she would rub her shoe on the tyre to make buzzing noises.
But its the parents who not only drop off the kids but stand and wait in the playground until the whistle blows and they all line up, that gets me, the whole time the car is causing mayhem.
Sometimes the mums would still be in pyjamas, and that is why they couldn't walk them to school!!
I do wonder if schools actually opened at an earlier time whether a lot of this could be avoided or at least stagger the clash of rush hour traffic.
That would just add to the traffic as people will end up making more journeys.
I always took my daughter to school sat on my crossbar, she thought she was cool, she would rub her shoe on the tyre to make buzzing noises.
Less cool when they're at high school.
newrobdob - Member
I can almost see why people park on yellow lines, on pavements etc but I can never understand why they would think it's ok to park on someone's driveway. Does this really happen??
I'm not by a school but have an old folks home in the road and been a number of occasions the visitors will park in people's driveways. Private property and driveways attached to the house. Not shared block stuff. They don't even care when they block people in, or park across driveways. Annoying thing is they can go into the home and spend half and hour or more on their visit.
What's worse is half the time it's the nurses parking there.
It's not quite as bad as by a school but same mentality with everyone wanting to park as close as possible, plus they'll double park, park on the pavement (double parked), and on corners. Double yellows were finally put down on the corners. Most ignore it and still park on them, or just park on the pavement.
It's been a massive increase over the years just the same with schools. Not helped by the local residents also owning 3 or 4 cars each, not all able to fit them on driveways.
Some parents arrive at school 30-45mins early in the afternoon, just to get a space near the gate.
Noticed that the other day. Was thinking it would be fine to go a particular route that goes past a school as it was more than half an hour before kick out time, but no, already jam packed with parents waiting. Some with engines running.
Probably an hour and a half ago bmw pulling out of school car park, cars parked both sides of entrance, kids everywhere, and he gets hit by a renault clio, whuich spins the bmw into a nissan duke all 3 cars wrecked, bmw rear wheel hanging off so undriveable, road blocked for 1 hour till police arrive, and still waiting for tow truck, the kids where in their element taking videos and selfies of the resultant chaos, with only one lane of traffic being able to pass, horn sounding and hand gestures was prevelant.
I wouldn't normally do something like this but if I came home and someone had parked in my drive I would simply park on the road and block them in, walk inside and not answer the door. I'm amazed people really do it!
Dont think its just schools, Its a people thing. currently working on a refurb to retail park The usual ..BM , Matalan. We are rebuilding car parks so they have reduced parking at the moment. cant get to BM from Matalan? no probs... I'll move this fence and walk thro'live section of work. FFS follow teh signs and walk round OR stand in front of me ,read sign then ask can I get to BM this WAy?. Only popping in for 5mins? no worries park you 7.5 tonner of the new block paving drip some oil and off you pop... WTAf?? are these morons? on? Glad I'm not teaching any more... sounds shite in the mornings/afternoons 🙄
I wouldn't normally do something like this but if I came home and someone had parked in my drive I would simply park on the road and block them in, walk inside and not answer the door. I'm amazed people really do it!
That's an absolute no brainer. You'd be surprised, or maybe not, at the number of people who don't see the error in their ways and will simply give you a hard time for being selfish.
They don't like it up 'em, Cptn Mainwaring!
Where I live our street connects to a main classified road, in a distance of roughly half a mile there are a total of five schools. Three secondary two primary. You think you have problems!
My son's school is mental for drop offs. I can manage about once a week taking him in before I'd cause trouble. Had a parent actually drive down the pavement full of children the other day to avoid traffic coming the other way. Silly thing was, they had priority!
My gym amazes me too. There are two large car parks dedicated to the gym, both less than 50m walk from the entrance. And yet people still park on the double [b]red[/b] lines to get closer to the door. They're going to exercise! A couple of extra feet won't matter.