So why don't all school heads send home an open letter detailing the significance of the markings via the dear little children, I'm sure most kids will read it and may comment to there parents.
Well it's worth a try and arrogance is the major cause of the use of the zone even if they put an officer there most paretns will still drop off until they are cautioned. Regards Peter
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Peter - they do this all the time yet the parents continue to ignore the rules and I think the schools are reluctant to do much more for fear of souring parent relationships. My others son's school has published the regn. numbers of offending vehicles and threatened to pass them on to the police but the parents concerned have no respect for for the law, let alone the school and simply carry on regardless. Access to the special unit at my others son's school is regularly blocked in this manner so the buses provided for the special needs children have problems getting in/out. Almost anything goes outside schools these days and ours is far from being the worst in this area for such problems. HF and I see daily examples of dodgy manoeuvres and dangerous parking undertaken by inconsiderate morons who, in the main, simply can't be bothered to park just a little further away and walk 50 yards to collect their little darlings!
If I were in charge I'd confiscate their cars and crush 'em (the cars I mean, not the parents.... but then again ....)
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Volvoman,
Totally off topic, but can I ask you what part of the country are you in. The reason being is that my son is special needs and am finding it difficult to find schools for him.
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Volvoman/CM,
If one of you e-mails me I will forward the mail to the other so that you can make direct contact if it will help.
Mark.
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S. London/N. Kent CM - If you want to email me Mark (Mod) can pass on my address to you.
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>If I were in charge I'd confiscate their cars and crush 'em (>the cars I mean, not the parents.... but then again ....)
around this part of the country parents leave it to the last minute to pick up their little darlings then cannot find a space to park so just pull up on the zig-zags and hope the kids are their to just hope in. or it could be that the things that dangle from thier backsides (legs) dont work.
chris
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Open letters home just won't work. My little one goes to a nursery everyday. There is a nice big carpark for parents to park in and there are also 2 special bays conveniently placed near the main doors which are clearly marked for disabled parking. Max distance from the furthest point of the carpark to the main doors is about 25 metres. The nursery has its own access road and is about 300 metres from the main road so no problems with traffic at all. Every so often a letter is put in the childrens' bags asking parents not to use the disabled bays. Things then improve for a week or so but then it is back to normal: the lazy arrogant ones use the disabled bays. I always give them a dirty look, coward that I am.
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Andrew-T
Alas, that's what I assumed also...
John R
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Unfortunately people are convinced there is a child molester round every corner. The fact that the vast majority of child abuse is carried out by parents and that the child is statistically far more likely to in the seat of the family car does not impinge.
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Simon what you're saying is true.
But also, statistically, it's quite possible that there *could* indeed be a child molester, or at least a paedophile, living in anybody's street.
Round here just a couple of weeks ago, there were 2 attempted abductions on the streets, and over the last few years I have heard of perhaps seven or eight other very local attempts, 2 of them known to me personally. So it's not really surprising that we then overreact to this, and overprotect our children.
Of course, none of that excuses the behaviour detailed above.
HF
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HF
The thing is, I'm sure you'd agree, that it is the presence of the adult which is supposed to make the child safe, not the proximity or, even, existence of the metal box that is going to get them home.
On the, admittedly rare, occasions when I am on school run duty it never ceases to amaze me how flagrantly these rules are ignored. However, when you mention it to anyone in the school playground everyone is in agreement as to how dangerous it is and how it shouldn't be allowed etc.
Some of these agreeable people must also have among their number some of the parents who have threatened the headmaster and the caretaker with physical attack when they have challenged parents over their parking. Apparently the caretaker was told that they knew he lived in the house next to the school and that he really ought to make sure that his letter-box was locked because 'someone' could push 'something imflammable through it one night' if he carried on with 'this sort of attitude'.
I just find it absolutely disgusting that people can really be that debased, all over a few yards walk.
Cockle
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Yes Cockle, I *do* agree.
And it's awful that the kind of threatening behaviour you describe seems to be becoming more and more prevalent. I also find it unbelievable that that type of parent is allowed to continue to send their child to the school!
And you're right about the hypocrites too. What is it with these people? Either they're just so self-obsessed tha they agree with the rules as long as they are exempt, or they are so utterly dense and self-absorbed that they aren't even aware that they're behaving in such an anti-social way.
HF
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There's an experiment or two just started near[1] here where there is a parking ban between the flashing amber lights under the school ahead signs when the lights are on. Lots of big red signs and road markings.
[1] Cottingham, East Yorks.
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Found a link:-
www.eastriding.gov.uk/newsflash/archive/0212110205...l
1 Dec 2002 EAST RIDING`S FIRST SCHOOL SAFETY ZONE IS LAUNCHED IN COTTINGHAM
The East Riding`s first school safety zone came into operation on Tuesday, December 10th outside Cottingham High School in Harland Way.
These new measures have been put into place because of concerns for schoolchildrens` safety due to the number of parents parking directly outside the school entrance.
This ongoing problem of parental parking also means that school busses cannot gain adequate access to the lay by because cars are blocking the entrance. Various safety measures have been introduced in the past, which have had some effect, but the problem still remains.
The School Safety Zone consists of an area outside the school entrance where parental parking will not be permitted so that children can cross the road and see oncoming traffic and vehicles travelling on Harland Way will have forward visibility of the children crossing.
Signs have been placed at each end of the zone with new warnings showing the school crest. Amber flashing warning lights will highlight and draw attention to the presence of the safety zone.
"I think that a School Safety Zone is a very good idea, safety of our children is paramount at all times and if we can limit the amount of cars parking outside the school then this will obviously help," said Inspector Andy Woodhead from Cottingham Local Police Team.
This scheme will form a trial and if successful then School Safety Zones may become features of other parts of the East Riding. Monitoring over the coming months will evaluate the effectiveness in operation and safety.
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This sounds like quite a good idea. Especially if there is a traffic warden ready to pounce and enforce the scheme.
I'm normally not a fan of speed humps at all. However, I think these safety zones would also benefit from a speed hump that raises from the ground when the zone is in operation but drops back down when not needed (if they exist). Then again, the 4x4s and 7-seaters with one child in may just crash over them.
The humps would have to be separate from the crossing. The school near me has flat topped pinch point humps nearby. A lot of kids and parents think they are zebra crossings though, which is dangerous as cars don't automatically stop.
James
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And they still park there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Yhats on Harland Way in Cottingham.
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The idea is great, Martin - but will anyone actually take notice of these big red signs and warnings, any more than they take notice of the orange flashing lights? I hope so, but I'm sure it will take a regular police officer or traffic warden, or even the cameras mentioned above, to really deter the hard-core element.
HF
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I'm afraid it's the same attitude as towards the double yellow lines and zebra crossing markings in our village. I can guarantee that every morning and evening queues of traffic build up behind cars which park on these to "nip" into the newsagents or fast food joints. There was even a car parked on the pavement tonight - it had pulled onto it using the kerbless bit at the end of the zebra(there so that pushchairs/wheel chairs can get easily on/of the crossing) so that he blocked the crossing. I stopped to allow someone across and they had to walk onto the road before they could get onto the crossing! Ironically there are THREE carparks behind the shops so that the MAXIMUM distance anyone has to walk from them to any shop is 30 yards - yet these people still prefer to cause inconvenience and danger to others.
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I was going to say that more severe punishment might be a solution. However I then realised that traffic wardens are invarioubly never near schools at the appropriate times, and perhaps not in Phil's village either.
So, apart from the occasional parking ticket, is there any other punishment available for all the offenders we've listed? Or is nothing ever done apart from asking them to move on?
HF
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HF - for the real regulars, nothing short of (minor) damage to their vehicles, I suspect.
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