Complaints to police over parents parking at schools (From Bucks Free Press)

All common sense seems to be left at home by drivers on the school run.

The catchment area for most of the schools is probably less than a mile. Wonder just how far many of the children travel by car? For those who live more than a mile away then perhaps it is understandable. Otherwise maybe they could walk?

Or maybe not as half the ones I know that drive are on their way - and already late - for work...

Marlow Mum wrote:
Or maybe not as half the ones I know that drive are on their way - and already late - for work...

perhaps with a bit more planning they could set off earlier?

Marlow Mum wrote:
Or maybe not as half the ones I know that drive are on their way - and already late - for work...

Perhaps they would not be late if they got up earlier! Doing the school run 5 days a week even a Yummy Mummy could work out how long it took and then allow a reasonable amount of time. Not excuses - just laziness
and inconsideration for locals who live near a school

I hope plenty of fixed penalties are being handed out, it seems the only way they learn, after paying a few penalties they switch their brains on.
I used to live at a school entrance and if I was out I could not return during the time kids were being collected, it lasted arround an hour, the police refused to book those parked in resident only boxes but residents had to pay for a pass each year.

where else can they show off their 4 x 4,s !!!!!!!!

Come to h3ll -- come to Marlow Bottom where the Psycho Mummy Death Race goes on each day for 45 mins in the AM and PM.

Even Thames Valley Police won't show up to enforce the speed limits, illegal parking and other shenanigans that go on.

We who live here, which is a less than 2 mile long hamlet know better than to try to get out when the Marlow Bottom 100 is going on.

Welcome to h3ll.

Thanks for your constructive and most helpful advice. Here's the thing. School gates open at 8.45am (and often are late). There is no before/after school club. Work starts at 9am and is 15 to 20 minutes away in good traffic. I have to work for financial reasons - not just to fund my 4x4 (which incidentally, I don't actually have). If you're so keen on walking, perhaps you should walk a mile in someone else's shoes before you judge them.

It's always good to walk a mile in someone else's shoes before criticising them.

That way, when you criticise them, you are a mile away and you have their shoes.

I don't have children at schools in Marlow but I do live opposite an infant school. Parking can be a bit tricky but is it really such a hardship? Those that judge and say everyone should walk should perhaps consider roads into Marlow are dangerous and much of the free/ subsidised transport has been cut recently. Hmm, perhaps there is a link?!

Emma179 wrote:
I don't have children at schools in Marlow but I do live opposite an infant school. Parking can be a bit tricky but is it really such a hardship? Those that judge and say everyone should walk should perhaps consider roads into Marlow are dangerous and much of the free/ subsidised transport has been cut recently. Hmm, perhaps there is a link?!

I'm sure there a link between the roads being "dangerous" and the number of cars used for school runs. In some ways that becomes self perpetuating.

A Wycombe secondary school that I drive past daily on my way to work has installed 6 bright yellow signs outside each measuring about 1m x 2m telling parents not to stop or park there because it is dangerous. In the 2 or 3 minutes I was waiting for the traffic lights to change 2 parents pulled up next to a sign to drop off their children. On my journey home 1 car was parked next to a sign and another pulled up to let a child get in. Some parents are completely blinkered on the school run and seem to think rules are for other people.

There can never be an excuse for parking badly at a school; those who do are putting their darling's class mates in danger. There is a reason that you are not supposed to park on the yellow zig zags, its because there are young kids around and they are likely to do something unpredictable.

A bit of planning and you can walk your kids to school and still make work. Of course, if you were prepared to go to your local school, and not the 'nice one with the middle class kids and no council house families' then you might find this easier.

s6blr wrote:
Come to h3ll -- come to Marlow Bottom where the Psycho Mummy Death Race goes on each day for 45 mins in the AM and PM.

Even Thames Valley Police won't show up to enforce the speed limits, illegal parking and other shenanigans that go on.

We who live here, which is a less than 2 mile long hamlet know better than to try to get out when the Marlow Bottom 100 is going on.

Welcome to h3ll.

The new nusery has made Marlow Bottom a dangerous place to drive in the morning.

I too, live opposite an infant scool in Marlow and every single day, morning and evening, there is a half hour period where the road becomes a nightmare and seemingly, all rules and common sense are suspended. Parents pull up on the zig-zags, on double yellow lines, across driveways and most days actually on my driveway. When politely asked to move, they all, without exception, get defensive and come up with a range of arguments to defend their wrongdoings. A few examples are: ''I'm not parking, my engines still running''; ''well you are not using it''; ''I'll only be a minute''; I've never parked here before''. There have been many other 'discussions' but most involve the parents being too abusive to repeat here. What they fail to realise is that by parking so close to the school so as to make sure that their little Jessica or Johnny gets to school safely, they are putting the lives of all of the other school children at risk. They are also setting a bad example which unfortunately, their children will copy in later life and so the cycle continues. The local police stand on the corner and watch all of these offences take place but do nothing, thus suggesting to all of the offending parents that their actions are OK and the local parking wardens rarely venture up this far as there are far easier pickings to be had in the high street and the car parks (and don't even get me started on the appalling parking in these areas) and they are not so far to walk. Until every offending driver is targeted and fined, not just once, but every single time they park incorrectly, then the problem will continue.

T.C. wrote:
I too, live opposite an infant scool in Marlow and every single day, morning and evening, there is a half hour period where the road becomes a nightmare and seemingly, all rules and common sense are suspended. Parents pull up on the zig-zags, on double yellow lines, across driveways and most days actually on my driveway. When politely asked to move, they all, without exception, get defensive and come up with a range of arguments to defend their wrongdoings. A few examples are: ''I'm not parking, my engines still running''; ''well you are not using it''; ''I'll only be a minute''; I've never parked here before''. There have been many other 'discussions' but most involve the parents being too abusive to repeat here. What they fail to realise is that by parking so close to the school so as to make sure that their little Jessica or Johnny gets to school safely, they are putting the lives of all of the other school children at risk. They are also setting a bad example which unfortunately, their children will copy in later life and so the cycle continues. The local police stand on the corner and watch all of these offences take place but do nothing, thus suggesting to all of the offending parents that their actions are OK and the local parking wardens rarely venture up this far as there are far easier pickings to be had in the high street and the car parks (and don't even get me started on the appalling parking in these areas) and they are not so far to walk. Until every offending driver is targeted and fined, not just once, but every single time they park incorrectly, then the problem will continue.

Maybe a uniformed police officer standing outside the school gate with notepad at the ready would suffice?

gpn01 wrote:

T.C. wrote: I too, live opposite an infant scool in Marlow and every single day, morning and evening, there is a half hour period where the road becomes a nightmare and seemingly, all rules and common sense are suspended. Parents pull up on the zig-zags, on double yellow lines, across driveways and most days actually on my driveway. When politely asked to move, they all, without exception, get defensive and come up with a range of arguments to defend their wrongdoings. A few examples are: ''I'm not parking, my engines still running''; ''well you are not using it''; ''I'll only be a minute''; I've never parked here before''. There have been many other 'discussions' but most involve the parents being too abusive to repeat here. What they fail to realise is that by parking so close to the school so as to make sure that their little Jessica or Johnny gets to school safely, they are putting the lives of all of the other school children at risk. They are also setting a bad example which unfortunately, their children will copy in later life and so the cycle continues. The local police stand on the corner and watch all of these offences take place but do nothing, thus suggesting to all of the offending parents that their actions are OK and the local parking wardens rarely venture up this far as there are far easier pickings to be had in the high street and the car parks (and don't even get me started on the appalling parking in these areas) and they are not so far to walk. Until every offending driver is targeted and fined, not just once, but every single time they park incorrectly, then the problem will continue.

Maybe a uniformed police officer standing outside the school gate with notepad at the ready would suffice?

That is exactly what they do! They are in uniform and they stand and watch and do nothing!!! What does this then tell the parents - that it must be OK to park incorrectly as there is a police officer watching yet he is saying or doing nothing so it must be other people who are in the wrong or he must be there for another reason - slightly detrimental to the real reason for them being there. Unfortunately, until these offenders are ticketed on each and every occassion, they will continue to flout the law but then, looking at the bigger picture, perhaps this is what is wrong with society in general, the laws exist but with no way of policing them and little chance of any punishment if caught, nobody takes any notice thus making the laws a waste of time.

T.C. wrote:

gpn01 wrote:

T.C. wrote: I too, live opposite an infant scool in Marlow and every single day, morning and evening, there is a half hour period where the road becomes a nightmare and seemingly, all rules and common sense are suspended. Parents pull up on the zig-zags, on double yellow lines, across driveways and most days actually on my driveway. When politely asked to move, they all, without exception, get defensive and come up with a range of arguments to defend their wrongdoings. A few examples are: ''I'm not parking, my engines still running''; ''well you are not using it''; ''I'll only be a minute''; I've never parked here before''. There have been many other 'discussions' but most involve the parents being too abusive to repeat here. What they fail to realise is that by parking so close to the school so as to make sure that their little Jessica or Johnny gets to school safely, they are putting the lives of all of the other school children at risk. They are also setting a bad example which unfortunately, their children will copy in later life and so the cycle continues. The local police stand on the corner and watch all of these offences take place but do nothing, thus suggesting to all of the offending parents that their actions are OK and the local parking wardens rarely venture up this far as there are far easier pickings to be had in the high street and the car parks (and don't even get me started on the appalling parking in these areas) and they are not so far to walk. Until every offending driver is targeted and fined, not just once, but every single time they park incorrectly, then the problem will continue.

Maybe a uniformed police officer standing outside the school gate with notepad at the ready would suffice?

That is exactly what they do! They are in uniform and they stand and watch and do nothing!!! What does this then tell the parents - that it must be OK to park incorrectly as there is a police officer watching yet he is saying or doing nothing so it must be other people who are in the wrong or he must be there for another reason - slightly detrimental to the real reason for them being there. Unfortunately, until these offenders are ticketed on each and every occassion, they will continue to flout the law but then, looking at the bigger picture, perhaps this is what is wrong with society in general, the laws exist but with no way of policing them and little chance of any punishment if caught, nobody takes any notice thus making the laws a waste of time.

Disagree (and this is going off topic slightly). The issue isn't about the police not enforcing the law. It's about members of the public not respecting the law in the first place.

gpn01 wrote:

T.C. wrote:

gpn01 wrote:

T.C. wrote: I too, live opposite an infant scool in Marlow and every single day, morning and evening, there is a half hour period where the road becomes a nightmare and seemingly, all rules and common sense are suspended. Parents pull up on the zig-zags, on double yellow lines, across driveways and most days actually on my driveway. When politely asked to move, they all, without exception, get defensive and come up with a range of arguments to defend their wrongdoings. A few examples are: ''I'm not parking, my engines still running''; ''well you are not using it''; ''I'll only be a minute''; I've never parked here before''. There have been many other 'discussions' but most involve the parents being too abusive to repeat here. What they fail to realise is that by parking so close to the school so as to make sure that their little Jessica or Johnny gets to school safely, they are putting the lives of all of the other school children at risk. They are also setting a bad example which unfortunately, their children will copy in later life and so the cycle continues. The local police stand on the corner and watch all of these offences take place but do nothing, thus suggesting to all of the offending parents that their actions are OK and the local parking wardens rarely venture up this far as there are far easier pickings to be had in the high street and the car parks (and don't even get me started on the appalling parking in these areas) and they are not so far to walk. Until every offending driver is targeted and fined, not just once, but every single time they park incorrectly, then the problem will continue.

Maybe a uniformed police officer standing outside the school gate with notepad at the ready would suffice?

That is exactly what they do! They are in uniform and they stand and watch and do nothing!!! What does this then tell the parents - that it must be OK to park incorrectly as there is a police officer watching yet he is saying or doing nothing so it must be other people who are in the wrong or he must be there for another reason - slightly detrimental to the real reason for them being there. Unfortunately, until these offenders are ticketed on each and every occassion, they will continue to flout the law but then, looking at the bigger picture, perhaps this is what is wrong with society in general, the laws exist but with no way of policing them and little chance of any punishment if caught, nobody takes any notice thus making the laws a waste of time.

Disagree (and this is going off topic slightly). The issue isn't about the police not enforcing the law. It's about members of the public not respecting the law in the first place.

I couldn't agree more. That is exactly what I meant. I was not blaming the police although I do feel thjat they could be slightly more proactive. However, as you rightly say, if members of the public respected the law in the first place, then they wouldn't need to be. Sorry for any confusion.