Dear School-runners (a mini-rant)

Oh I see, fair point but its fair for me to ask the question as I dont have an encyclopedic knowledge of all the previous threads on here.
Doesnt change the fact you were trying to divert this thread in a different direction with your initial question. The poster made a valid assumption in my opinion and you made another remark.
I dont think a teenager assuming that someone who drives a foreign registered car is foreign is in anyway wrong or illogical, seems to be an issue for you however.

The actual schools are half the problem ime.

I lived in a flat which had two different exit roads. One of these routes would always grind to a halt when the Mums blocked all access twice a day.

This wasn’t normally a problem because I could use the other exit road…until we had road works. Suffice to say I was late for work that week despite leaving earlier and earlier each day so in the end I rang the Headmaster and politely suggested that under the circumstances he or his staff should be stood outside to prevent the Mums blocking the ONLY exit from my road but he flattely refused and suggested “the union” might have something to say if he did and was totally unsympathetic to the problem his school was creating for residents.

Basically the Schools don’t give a shit so why should the Mums.

Doesnt change the fact you were trying to divert this thread in a different direction with your initial question. The poster made a valid assumption in my opinion and you made another remark.

I simply questioned bradley’s valid assumption, asking for the reasoning behind this, especially coming from someone with such a small amount of experience on the road.
The assumptions and backtracking is being done who made assumptions about me. 😆

I dont think a teenager assuming that someone who drives a foreign registered car is foreign is in anyway wrong or illogical, seems to be an issue for you however.

The word is forgein… 🙄

Basically the Schools don’t give a shit so why should the Mums

Maybe, maybe not however we are talking about adults here who simply choose to ignore laws and refuse in this instance to consider others (including other childrens safety) Its not for the school to reinforce the law the car drivers are adults after all.

@enfht
Its not the schools job to organise the road outside their gates. Lets be honest, they must get royally fed up receiving complaints from locals who have to put up with this crap twice a day, 5 days a week.
I would love to see the council send one of their parking wardens down once a week on a random day and start dishing out tickets. All this crap that “its only 10 minutes” and “its not doing any harm” would soon get sorted out.

I’m sure that there are people with legitimate reasons for driving kids to school — if you have an inflexible employer who insists on you being in work at a time that doesn’t allow for a 15 minute walk back from school, for instance.

Who does that prevent kids either walking to school themselves, or being dropped off near the school (within say 500m) but not directly outside the gates?

Having said that we have someone on our street who drives to see her mother at the other end of the street. Our street is 25 terraced houses long.

KILL HER

My neighbour opposite once drove to nursery. on return [ i was dropping my kids off there as well] she parked in her drive, got all the kids out and then explained to me her start point was the nearest place to park!!!
She continued to “drive” there 🙄

Eidt I have to use th ecar on Monday but as others note simple park a little further away and walk…it is actually faster if nothing else

I simply questioned bradley’s valid assumption, asking for the reasoning behind this, especially coming from someone with such a small amount of experience on the road.

🙄

Ye, course you were.

Simple solution: give schools the power to enforce private parking restrictions and collect fines for their own benefit. 😀

Guns and brutal Darwinism please Graham

I would love to see the council send one of their parking wardens down once a week on a random day and start dishing out tickets

They do this occasionally near me but given that they have high viz vests on and the parents do only stop for a few minutes and given their are so many of them this has little affect.
Probably makes it worse as they all get on their mobiles to warn each other !!

Ye, course you were.

Do you want a bigger shovel?
I guess you don’t realise how often cars with foreign plates are treated badly on the roads (perhaps you do it), by what I validly assume are British driver. I have even had the Highway Code incorrectly quoted at me in some half arsed excuse.
I was genuinely interested, but if you can’t get that, carry on…

I dont think a teenager assuming that someone who drives a foreign registered car is foreign is in anyway wrong or illogical

He also assumed that the driver’s child was attending a local school. Which is slightly bizarre, although possible, if the car was “foreign registered” as you seem to think it was.

Who does that prevent kids either walking to school themselves

Depends on the kids. Averse though I am to cotton-woolling them, I don’t think many people would be happy to send five or six year olds to school unaccompanied.

or being dropped off near the school (within say 500m) but not directly outside the gates?

Nothing (although it doesn’t solve anything, 500m is still well within the blast radius at our local one…).

I didn’t realise it’d be necessary to exhaustively list every parameter that might conceivably make driving a child close to school of a morning to be justified 🙂 However, you’re making the same point I am, which is that such circumstances are somewhat rare.

(Our walk to school goes past houses from which people drive…)

It’s not often you make me smile ernesto, but in this case I’ll make an exception. 😆

Junkyard: we only found this out after my missus spent last winter popping in every day to make sure her mum got her medicine, because the daughter “couldn’t drive in the snow”! 😯

I would love to see the council send one of their parking wardens down once a week on a random day and start dishing out tickets

This.

And/or install CCTV so that, in between the morning & afternoon school run, someone can go through identifying illegal parking & issue fines.

I have no sympathy for motorists who deliberately infringe laws or what-not.

When I’m Prime Minister the minimum penalty for ANY motoring offence would be having your car taken away and crushed to the size of a satsuma. And being charged for it.

Don’t they have school buses any more?

I guess you don’t realise how often cars with foreign plates are treated badly on the roads (perhaps you do it),

Bit more conclusion jumping, its going really well.

On a practical note I do occasionally make mental note of left hand drive cars, I have driven abroad quite a bit and observation can be tricky.

I would love to see the council send one of their parking wardens down once a week on a random day and start dishing out tickets.

They do send parking wardens out from time to time at my son’s school. It calms them down for a week or so, but they’re soon back to their old habits, parking on the zigzags and pavements. Having said that I’ve heard one school dad (drives a massive 4×4, obviously) say he deliberately parks on the pavement to annoy people.

Don’t they have school buses any more?

Not for primary schools round here, no, the catchment areas and numbers of kids are too small. The school near my office operates a walking bus and it’s well subscribed but there’s still loads of parents too precious or stupid to get their kids to use it instead of driving them in.

Don’t they have school buses any more?

Pfft! Don’t be daft! That’s bloody socialism that is!!! Bordering on communism, if I’m honest. The ****-everyone-else, get-out-of-my-bloody-way free for all, chaos will prepare our children well for life in a capitlist society

Bit more conclusion jumping, its going really well.

Conclusions only gained from experience.
Do you have a problem there surfer? You seem to be looking for something that doesn’t really exist.

Pfft! Don’t be daft! That’s bloody socialism that is!!! Bordering on communism, if I’m honest. The ****-everyone-else, get-out-of-my-bloody-way free for all, chaos will prepare our children well for life in a capitlist society

*Rubs chin*
Duke of Westminster used to send his girls to school in the school bus to Parkgate. There was a four car security detail that followed it though. Moreton Hall has buses to pick up the students.

When I’m Prime Minister the minimum penalty for ANY motoring offence would be having your car taken away and crushed to the size of a satsuma. And being charged for it.

joao3v16, I thoroughly approve of your transport policy and would like to join your political party.

My youngest goes to school on a bus. Seems to move the problem as parents pull over at the side of busy roads to drop their kids off who were too late to walk!!

One of the posh schools in central Edinburgh employs a security guard to stand at the big stone (one lane) gate at the entrance, as so much traffic carnage was caused by the mums dropping their legless wunderkind off in the morning. Now they just park along the road and take out hapless cyclists with their car doors.

(I don’t think I recall ever once in my entire life getting driven to school. Mind you I grew up in the colonies where the weather is better. And I did get a car bought for me when I turned 15, so I would drive myself to school.)

joao3v16 – Member

I would love to see the council send one of their parking wardens down once a week on a random day and start dishing out tickets

I have no sympathy for motorists who deliberately infringe laws or what-not.

When I’m Prime Minister the minimum penalty for ANY motoring offence would be having your car taken away and crushed to the size of a satsuma. And being charged for it.

+1

I’ve heard one school dad (drives a massive 4×4, obviously) say he deliberately parks on the pavement to annoy people.

Aaaaaaargh! (it works)

“Morning. I’ve broken the law, caused a hazard and increased the risk to children just to annoy you.”

“Thanks. I’ve let all the air out of two of your tyres just to annoy you. Have a nice day.”

On a practical note I do occasionally make mental note of left hand drive cars,

they’re easy to spot, being the ones driven by people with no sense of time, space or other road users. masters of the art of road-based fkwittery as it were

I agree! I’m also very very important and these 15 minute periods of free-for-all make me very upset too. It means I have to be particularly careful around schools at certain times of day and sometimes I have to drive slowly. On occasion I’m even delayed!

“Morning. I’ve broken the law, caused a hazard and increased the risk to children just to annoy you.”

“Thanks. I’ve let all the air out of two of your tyres just to annoy you. Don’t worry about it, and I’m sure that key scratch will polish out nicely. Have a nice day.”

I walked the boy to school today and we have to go past the usual parking chaos at his old infants school. This morning we saw one parent pull up into a space, blocking a drive, that was only 20-30yds from free spaces. She got out and was told by some of the other parents that she was blocking a drive, ignored them and walked off. As I walked back the homeowner of the blocked drive was sitting in his car looking very pissed off as he tried to get out.

There was a guy who used to park on the yellow zigzags in front of the school every morning. The police were called after him being asked not to. He got 6points and didn’t do it again. Numpty.

“Thanks. I’ve let all the air out of two of your tyres just to annoy you. Have a nice day.”

is this vandalism? if I tried it on someone who had just nearly killed me then parked up and buggered off before I got chance to chastise them would the police arrest me for such things?

I’m thinking probably vandalism but very limited chance for legal ramifications as opposed to keying.

Here come the hardmen.

driven by people with no sense of time, space or other road users

Very concise description of ‘motorist’

“Thanks. I’ve let all the air out of two of your tyres just to annoy you. Have a nice day.”

is this vandalism?

No actual damage done, so technically not vandalism (?)

When I was young and daft I made a living as a motorcycle courier. When you’re on the road all day on a bike, you soon learn an almost zen-like ability to spot risk.

You can forget your ranting Psychotic taxi drivers, sun reading white van man, what really struck fear into even the hardest bikers was the school run mum in a 4×4. The hour from 3-4 when they were all out, was like having the spectre of death hanging over you every day.

Has she seen me? Yes. Is she going to just pull her ****ing range rover out in front of me anyway, regardless? Of course she ****ing is!!!

Their attitude seems to be that as long as little Sophia and Harry make it to school and back ok, then everyone else is just collateral damage. And road traffic laws? Frankly incidental

Vehicle interference and is a criminal offence so not recommended. Draw a massive talliwaker on A3 paper and tape it to his windscreen.

Ok, why don’t just one of you actually follow through on any one of your childish threats, then come back and tell us about it.

Traffic Wardens.
Every few weeks Altrincham council send a traffic warden to the school gates to try to sort the carnage at my kids’ school. He just stands there highly visible, everyone parks where they should that day. The next day he isn’t there so they all resort to their scum approach and park wherever they want.
I don’t understand why the council doesn’t do the obvious thing and tell him to keep a low profile until he can ticket someone and that’ll sort the problem for good.

SamCooke – Member

I agree! I’m also very very important and these 15 minute periods of free-for-all make me very upset too. It means I have to be particularly careful around schools at certain times of day and sometimes I have to drive slowly. On occasion I’m even delayed!

Oh dear… You’re one of those people…

Oh dear… You’re one of those people

what does my homosexuality have to do with any of this?