Almost anyone who lives across from, or next to, a school can tell of the traffic jam frustrations during pick-up and drop-off times.
As parents doing the twice-daily school run, it is bad enough trying to find a place to park to fetch your children, so imagine being a homeowner not able to leave or enter your own property because parents block your driveway.
This situation drove one man, let’s name him Mark, who lives across the road from a primary school to put up cones to block parents from parking there. But now, he has asked Reddit users whether he is “the a**hole” for doing so after seeing a man removing them – and then not even having the decency to put them back.
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“I get off work roughly when school gets out. When it does get out, it gets really busy, and, in order to find parking, you might have to park blocks away. Therefore, I put cones outside my house.
“Today, however, a guy moved the cones and parked his car there for a significant amount of time. When he left, he didn't put the cones back.”
Mark saw this on his external camera. Now he asks: “AITA in this situation for putting cones outside my house? What should I do to prevent this from happening?”
In an edit to his post, he adds that someone also recently hit his car and drove off, another reason for putting the cones up.
In response, one Redditor, Playful_Trouble2102, wrote: “Legally, he might be in the wrong, but anyone who lives near a school will tell you that parents on a school-run drive have a ferocity and disregard for human life and property that would make Immortan Joe blush.”
Another commentator empathises with Mark as she also lives directly across from a primary school, and just up the road from a high school.
“They (the schools) are pretty great in terms of a nice smooth pick-up/drop-off process, but when there are events after school, we can get blocked in.
“I don't really consider (Mark) to be the devil unless he is also out there screaming at the people etc. I'd also say there's definitely potential that this is (a**hole) behaviour if he’s blocking actual public space and not his driveway.”
Advice for schools
In a blog post, Yellow.Live, a company in India that installs tamper-proof GPS devices in school transport vehicles, says traffic management around schools at drop-off and pick-up times is a major concern, and can cause administration issues for schools, trouble with the neighbours, and put pupils’ safety at risk.
It therefore offers five tips for schools to help address the situation:
– 1. Encourage parents to use aschool bus system
The first step to this is obviously to have a school bus system in place. One school bus can transport as many children as 38 cars can carry.
“Once you’ve arranged for sufficient school buses, encourage parents to use the system for their children. One of the reasons parents hesitate about sending their children to school by bus is a worry for the children’s safety. Relieve them of these worries by employing licensed, trustworthy drivers for your buses, and having at least one teacher aboard every bus.”
The company says installing GPS tracking systems on the buses can also help secure pupil safety and make parents feel at ease.
– 2. Stagger timings
Most schools organise their administration into different set-ups for the primary, intermediate, and high school phases. This categorisation not only helps the administration run smoother, but can be extended to manage traffic congestion.
“By staggering the school timings for different wings, the number of students arriving and leaving at a particular time can be greatly reduced. Staggering the timing by even 15 minutes per section can be helpful.”
– 3. Separate access points
Having the school buses, staff vehicles, students walking home, and parents picking up or dropping their children use the same gates can be chaotic. Instead, Yellow.Live says, you could consider having different access points for students using different modes of transportation.
“Arrange your staff parking away from the access point used by parents. Similarly, give your school buses a dedicated gate and students who walk or cycle to school a separate dedicated gate. Ideally, you should plan these access points such that the school buses do not cross the road in front of the pick-up point for parents.”
– 4. Co-ordinate with traffic authorities
Work with the traffic authorities to re-route traffic without inconveniencing anyone. One of the ways to do that would be to make the road in front of the parent pick-up and drop gate a one-way road.
“Getting speed breakers installed on these roads can also help regulate speed and reduce the risk of accidents occurring. You could also consider working with the authorities to increase fines for traffic violations that occur around the school. This includes speeding, double parking, and parking in no-parking zones.”
– 5. Temporary parking zones
Some parents will insist on picking up and dropping their children no matter how good your bus system is, and the trouble with this is that the urban landscape of more cities does not give schools access to sufficient permanent parking areas.
“As a result, these parents end up parking their cars haphazardly on the road and add to the traffic congestion.”
To resolve this issue, the company advises schools to approach their neighbourhood councils and get their consent to use available spaces that are not under school administration for temporary parking during school hours.
“Once this has been arranged, work with the traffic authorities to ensure that parents use this temporary parking facility and do not park their cars on the roads.”
Schools’ responsibilities
While schools may not be solely responsible for traffic outside its premises, Yellow.Live says it falls upon them to take the initiative to establish an effective solution.
“There is no one way to deal with all traffic congestion issues. The best strategy is one that is tailored to the local community. Hence, when developing such a solution, it is important to work together with the parent community, neighbours, local councils, and traffic authorities.”
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