Unnecessary congestion
Have you noticed how much congestion is caused by school traffic? It’s not just around schools, all those individual cars have travelled the roads to get there and back, often driven by a parent who has other commitments to meet.
I think we should bring back School Buses
Comments
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We lived in Worksop on the Doncaster side, used to walk to school which was the other side of town approx 3 miles although there was a bus that went upto our school, the other thing you didn't see much of then was overweight children, far more active playing
outside than kids do today.The village that I live in as a school and when it is pickup or drop of time there is cars down one side of the road for approx 1/4 of a mile, you cannot get two cars by each other at school time, as I said in another thread it's dangerous for not only the
kids that walk but everyone using that road however, asked the police to do something and they say they can't although the cars are causing an obstruction.0 -
MD, it's a different world now, back in the day life was less complicated, less people, less cars, less stress. If a parent wants to drop their children at the school gates they have their reasons, what you or I did 30/40+ years ago means nothing as lives
& the world are truly different.0 -
I take two of my g/children too school almost every day and i park on a car park by Tesco.The problem is most of the parents park as near too the school as they can get on the public roads and for half an hour its near gridlock.Many are comeing less than
half a mile but thats how it is.As Rocky says its a different world now and until they are at high school mums,dads and grandparents will see them safely there and back.
peter.
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No problem with parents taken children to school but why on earth do they need to park as near the school gates as possible, like you Peter why not use some common sense and park a little way away everybody would be safer and they wouldn't cause gridlock.
This tends to happen at most schools and will continue until someone does something about it or God forbid a child gets killed or maimed, at that point the parents will be up in arms saying it isn't safe.0 -
The parents are constantly reminded not too bring their cars into the school carpark but they insist on doing so
the school sometimes puts a guy on the gate too turn them back.We have the same prob as you MD cars all along one side of a road and cars still trying to go both ways 
peter.
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Did you know Peter that the police cannot prosecute them for obstruction unless they actually catch them parking their car, or so the local council tell me. Best about our village is there are numerous dead end roads around the school but they being selfish,idle
and not a lot of common sense park along this one road, now they have put 20 mph signs up, as if that will stop a child walking between cars and possibly getting injured.0 -
Have to agree its ridiculous, our village also has a primary and secondary school combined with nearly 2000 pupils. Its 'B' road is for a good half mile reduced to one way traffic and the official double decker / coaches have great difficulty negotiating
the road.I can understand the younger children need looking after until they feel safe and competent with nearby traffic, but teens should be encouraged to walk and it would also help some parents to walk looking at the size of them.
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I think that the provision of safe transport to schools was abandoned in the interest of saving money. The problem may be that we have only pushed a very visible expense from one area to another where it is hidden or impossible to calculate. Ignoring the
time taken by multiple guardians to deliver their children to school, I think they will have all done so at greater collective expense than that of a few buses. The knock-on effect is to also cause considerable congestion and more hidden cost to others which
may not have created a net saving at all.0 -
I used to work at Lound Hall training centre, which belonged to British Coal and the trainees were bussed in from all over North Notts there must have been about 7 coaches, just shows it can be done. If they used busses the parents could run them to a central
point where there is plenty of parking space and it wouldn't cause grid lock.0 -
MD , you have been told,
the police cannot prosecute them for obstruction unless they actually catch them parking their car,
The police have to prove who drove/parked the car to the position it is parked, they can do this with judicious questioning of who returns to the car to drive it off which is usually done soon after.
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I have been aware of one parent who used to arrive and park outside the primary school 15 minutes late every day.
This was to ensure she could park to drop her son off at the primary school !
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MD , you have been told,
the police cannot prosecute them for obstruction unless they actually catch them parking their car,
The police have to prove who drove/parked the car to the position it is parked, they can do this with judicious questioning of who returns to the car to drive it off which is usually done soon after.
..If the vehicle is causing an obstruction ,regular near here ,the police ticket the vehicle,as do our parking services staff
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Thanks for the info KPH
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Even worse are those parents who park 1/2 on the pavement so that other parents with prams cannot get past. Local 'safety car' hasn't given rise to the prosecution of a single offender yet.
Safety car is one that has a camera mounted on the roof to detect errant motorists and fine them!
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Not sure about school buses. Driver of one near York ignored road closed signs and bus ended up in 5 ft of water! Made national news. What a plonker! Pupils dialled 999, he phoned his bus company.
Vacancy for a bus driver in York area imminent! Joking aside, at least no one was hurt!
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Here's the link to the
York School bus incident - driver now suspended!0 -
MD , you have been told,
the police cannot prosecute them for obstruction unless they actually catch them parking their car,
The police have to prove who drove/parked the car to the position it is parked, they can do this with judicious questioning of who returns to the car to drive it off which is usually done soon after.
Write your comments here...simple questions
" are you the driver of this vehicle "
reply " yes"
" did you leave it in this position "
Reply "yes"
case proved.
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I have 4 grandchildren, 2 lots of 2. None of them go to the schools near where they live, why, because the schools are full so my grandchildren have to travel 15 mins by car to go to school in another village. Both sets of parents work, so it means the kids go to breakfast club so Mum can then go to work (she is a TA in another school 20 mins in the opposite direction) the Dad is in the Army so frequently away. The other set Dad takes the kids to school then turns round and drives 20 miles to work, he's lucky in that he doesn't start work until after 9am but that means he doesn't finish until 6pm, Mum drives 20 miles to work at 7 am so that she can finish early in time to pick the kids up at 3.15. They all do this without a moan in all weathers I'm pretty sure they would love to walk their children to school in the local village but those days have gone, for many its the daily battle of trying to keep all the balls in the air. I for one wouldn't want to be a parent these days.
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It doesn't matter if the council have painted yellow lines, unless they're enforced, parents still park on em! I have seen policemen wander past parked cars without a glance!
Write your comments here...police do not enforce yellow line offences. The council do. police only deal with obstruction offences
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"...police do not enforce yellow line offences. The council do. police only deal with obstruction offences "
So why are the councils not monitoring the local chools and bad parking then? Should we be on to our parish/borough/town/city council and complain about it?
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Contact your local council (to whom you pay rates). I’d take photos and send details to them. As it’s a revenue stream for them, I’d expect there to be an interest.
Write your comments here...the Council....well when I was the LS for a major teaching union we were involved in the consulations about school reorganisation and the building of several new PFI schools.All of the unions pressed for cycle/walk to school routes
to be included in the daft plans-which they were.Then budget problems arose and guess which parts of the plans were scrapped first?So we have shiny new schools with traffic congestion around them.0 -
Our local primary school has for many years organised with the help of parents a 'crocodile' walk. This starts off about 3/4 mile from the school and parents and students join it on the way. This obviously reduces congestion at the gate, gives everyone more exercise and builds road safety education. Conversely at the secondary school I worked all staff had to do gate duty. Parents were insistant on dropping the child as near to the gate as feasibly possible. The staff had to prevent students running into the road between cars because they had to hurry as their pick up car was on a double yellow line.
Finally, the increased danger around school gates, can be mainly attributed to sheer laziness by parents and offsprings alike. We all have a pair of legs why not use them? Why not consider staggered arrival and departure times. For the little ones arrange a supervised walk with them all holding a rope to keep them together. Believe it or not everyone might start having a 'real' chat on the way.
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Contact your local council (to whom you pay rates). I’d take photos and send details to them. As it’s a revenue stream for them, I’d expect there to be an interest.
Write your comments here...the Council....well when I was the LS for a major teaching union we were involved in the consulations about school reorganisation and the building of several new PFI schools.All of the unions pressed for cycle/walk to school routes
to be included in the daft plans-which they were.Then budget problems arose and guess which parts of the plans were scrapped first?So we have shiny new schools with traffic congestion around them.A ‘saving’ is only that if the action is not done or done more efficiently. So often, a ‘saving’ is merely achieved by passing the buck somewhere else and in a way that costs more overall.
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The clogging of areas around schools by parents' cars is happening for 3 main reasons
Laziness / Downright Laziness / Selfishness
The parents and their children would all benefit from using their legs and walking.
No reason why those with a few miles journey distance don't leave their cars in the local municiple car park and walk the rest of the way.
Good for the kids and good for the parents AND would improve road safety at the school gates.
K
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We have problems with inconsiderate parking ,most days in our area ,not just when the legless ones are going to and from school,the local police (now nearly a memory)will ticket vehicles causing an obstruction ie.over dropped kerbs on footpaths and junctions(
if around ) as will the parking services staff from the council,(again if around )at the time,as stated in other posts ain other circumstances they have to see the person park /or enter the vehicle to leave,We have in the past asked why this is ?as when in
car parks or yellow lines it is the vehicle that gets the ticket,and we have been informed a change in local bylaws would be needed ?0
