reversing on private drive

[paumel]

hi i live next door to a school and the parents reverse on to my drive to turn around and head out the way they came in. there is room to turn in front of the school gates or carry on down the road. i have been blocking the drive with my bin but this is not always possible. i report them to the school and they take note of the car reg numbers and list them in a school newsletter to 'name and shame' but it doesn't seam to be working. is it illegal to reverse on my drive? can i threaten them with the police? i feel this may be more of a deterant than the schools letter.

[Pottyone]

Why not park your car in the way? I have a young son and we sometimes drive to school, and I never use someone's drive to turn round, or park dangerously. It annoys the h*ll out of me that Mums who should be teaching their kids about road safety park on corners and double yellows to save walking a few yards, often making the 'safe place to cross' very dangerous.

[Androcles]

I have a similar problem with parents parking actross my drive whilst waiting to pick up their little darlings. There is nothing more selfish than people on the school run. I had an argument with a woman the other day who had parked across my drive when I arrived home and wanted to get in. In the end I had to get out of the car and I photographed her, and told her I was making a complaint to the police about causing an obstruction, at which point she reluctantly moved.

I think the problem you may have is that the police threat is likely to be ignored, unless there is an officer on site at the time. Perhaps you could go to your local Neighbourhood Policing team and say there is a safety problem with people blocking your drive and ask them to have a look. A couple of police traffic cones may also help, but if people are determined to ignore warnings, there is not a lot you can do . One guy I know waited until they reversed into his drive and then blocked them in and walked away leaving his car locked. The mum concerned was livid when he came back half an hour later as little johnny had missed his kung fu class or whatever, so he pointed out that this is what she and her friends were doing everyday to his access.

[fredpuli47]

Seems obvious, but is there no way you could install a gate at the boundary of your property? Or is that an expense you want to avoid ?
They've got no right to drive onto the pavement but it seems difficult to argue that they've no right to drive into that part of an entrance way that you don't own. There are limits on how much the courts will interpret a private easement to exclude such behaviour, if, indeed, they hold it to be one.

[bobjugs12]

Landmines.

It's the way forward.

[al1623]

80 quid will buy you a post for the bottom of your drive

[tamborine]

Was the school there before you? Install gates or move.

[AlBags]

Put nails on the drive

[tamborine]

AlBags.........r u mad - there are kids in those cars.

[ayabrea38]

Instead of a gate I have seen people put a chain across the drive.It means you having to unhook it every time you want to use it but I guess that is the lesser of two evils.I dont know if this is illegal,but dont see why if its over your property.

[paumel]

IT'S MY QUESTION ABOVE AND I FAILED TO SAY THAT IT'S A PRIVATE ROAD AND THE SCHOOL WAS BUILT BY A MAN WHO LIVED IN THE ROAD AND THE PARENTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ALLOWED TO PARK DOWN IT. BUT WE HAVE NO PAVEMENT AND OUR DRIVEWAYS LEAD DIRECTLY ON TO THE ROAD. I LIKE THE ANSWER ABOUT THE CHAIN AND I WILL BE LOOKING IN TO IT THIS WEEK WHILE THE'RE ON HALF TERM.

[suzie1]

hi we had the same problem and we live near a school, i bought som some large rocks from the garden centre and i placed it on my drive around the area people were using to reverse in, i made it look like attraction piece, and it worked, coz they are low down and heavy and could damage a car if driven over them, but which idiot would do that eh.......only one person ignored it and it was stuck under his car, my hubby helped him out, but since then we never really had a problem with it as they are unavoidable.....hope you sort it love

[york310]

Is there somewhere else they can turn around or is this private road a narrow dead end?

Should the school do something about this because obviously when the school was built there was most likely less traffic and no such thing as a school run?

If the school did do something would this increase the traffic up your private road as it would be easier to drop the kids off?

What do your neighbours do to alleviate the problem?

Obviously all the above are questions instead of answers. Or are they?

[paumel]

it is a through road but the second half has very big potholes that the residents won't deal with because they feel that would be making it easier for the parents. my house is next door to the school and the last one before the potholes start. the entrance next to my house is actually the back door not the main gate. the school thinks it's a petty problem and we should 'get over it', i have spoken to some of the parents and most are very rude. i have stood in the entrance to my drive to block them and have been told to move 'as i am reversing' which is funny and i can only laugh to keep my spirits up! there are gate posts as there was originally a gate and i found some long hooks in the garage so i think a chain link will do nicely.

[Skyline D]

My drive is across the road from a school and on a main road. Despite the presence of a drop off zone at the back of the school and a 200 space supermarket car park where the shop has told parents they are welcome to use it to drop their kids off, many parents still would rather park up on the main road to drop the kids off as they can get away quicker and don't have to get across a busy road on the way back out at rush hour. To be fair they don't often block the drive but they often park right up to it so it's very difficult to see if it's safe to come out of it into the main road. Fortunately the drive is right next to a bus stop so they are indeed committing a parking crime if they park there. I reported this to the police who to be fair sent an officer to see me and then targetted the school for a week or two, warning two parents over it and issuing a final warning to one of them when she continued to do it. Ito stopped for a while after that.

That was a few years ago now and I think it probably happens again now to an extent (new intake parents who haven't been previously wanred over it). However, as I changed my work location, I tend to leave earlier these days and I don't see it unless I happen to be on a day off.

[AlBags]

OK then Tambourine ... Landmines and nails. School run people often demonstrate no common sense with parking in the area of schools, and often abuse other's rights of way. Tis life.

[hannah40]

you have my sympathy,i have been a school crossing patrol lady since september and i cant beleave the amount of people that drive to school ,park inconsideratly block residents in and park across my crossing eventhough there are zigzags.i have spoken to police and they are thinking of putting yellow lines down.can that happen where you live?

[modeller]

I heard of a similar problem and they painted a yellow line across their drive entrance and their house, which worked . In your case its a private road so no one could even say it was illegal.