‘I stand in the road near my child’s school to stop illegal parking – I just smile’

A woman took matters into her own hands after parking at her child’s primary school was getting out of control – she decided to stand in the road to stop parents parking illegally

Picking your children up from school can be a really stressful experience because people sometimes break the rules, encouraging others to do the same because they want to pick their kids up quickly and easily. Often, parents can end up making matters worse by accidentally blocking the road and then everything becomes more complicated than it has to be.

One mum took to Mumsnet to complain that parents at their child’s school were being irresponsible and she explained that the school had sent multiple communications to parents and nothing had happened, so she’d decided to take things into her own hands.

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She wrote: “Parking at our primary school has been hazardous for years. There is a crossing guard on the main road at the school gates but not on a side road lots of kids have to cross.

“Parents park on the double yellow lines at the junction of the side road blocking lines of site for pedestrians and cars trying to turn in and out. This often results in the road getting blocked and cars reversing back on to the main road.

“School sends repeated communication to parents without impact and has asked the local authority for bollards and this is under consideration but hasn’t happened yet.

“I used to collect my child from the gate because of the risks but they want to be more independent and meet me further away.

“I started asking parents not to park and the junction but have been largely ignored so I have started standing on the edge of the road to prevent people parking and this has been effective.

“Today someone I know signaled to me to move but I smiled and shook my head and they had to park a few metres down the street . They are not happy with me. Am I being unreasonable to block the road?”

Frustrated parents understood why she was annoyed at what was happening.

One wrote: “It’s the same at every school in the country and is a problem that you won’t solve. Some parents are lazy and selfish.”

Another said: “Could the school get some cones to put up? The primary schools round here that aren’t school streets (where they close to cars) have no parking cones or A boards that get put out in the morning and afternoon to stop exactly this.”

Someone agreed with what the mum was doing, writing: “If her standing there means cars can’t park there sounds pretty much like problem solved to me.”

Another replied: “This. No one can park there so why can’t she stand there? Lazy, entitled w******.”

One Mumsnetter said: “She is standing at the edge which is already marked with yellow zig-zags which mean no parking. People parking on the zigzags makes it unsafe to cross.”

Someone else told of their parking horror, commenting: “The parents parking dangerously outside my daughter’s primary drives me mad. It’s their own kids they are putting at risk, I don’t understand it!

“On double yellows, on pavements, blocking the fire exit of a local business, the lollipop lady has been driven at, on grass verges, across driveways.”

What would you do in this situation? Let us know in the comments.