Fears parking by parents is putting pupils at risk
PARENTS flouting parking laws are putting children’s lives at risk.
Residents said they had witnessed parents fighting over spaces and said the situation had been going on for years.
Evening Times photos show drivers dropping children at St Paul’s (Whiteinch) Primary RC School showing disregard for the safety of pupils.
Now local residents and school headteacher James Kerr are hitting back.
Resident Janette McCarten lives in Primrose Street across from the main entrance to the primary.
She said: “It’s murder and the parents just don’t listen.
“I have spoken to the council about this, I have spoken to the community police and I have spoken to the school.
“The school is great and will send home letters to parents or send out text messages but it makes no difference.
“You see parents out there having a rammy between themselves over parking spaces and I have been shouted at parents when I have asked them to move on.
“I recently found a letter from Glasgow City Council in response to a complaint I made about this in 2008. It has been going on for a long time.”
Our photographer filmed the driver of a BMW cut across the street to the wrong side of the road. A young girl jumped out of the front passenger side into the road – as a second car came around the corner, narrowly missing her.
Janette said scenes like this are commonplace.
There are yellow zig zag lines outside the school that Glasgow City Council said have been there for 10 years.
The ends of the road are painted with double yellow lines so there is nowhere to legally stop. But this doesn’t bother lazy parents who park wherever they like for the convenience of dropping their child right at the school gate.
Headteacher James Kerr said the school has been pro-active i n trying to encourage cycling to school but the problem has been going on for years.
He said: “There is a minority of parents who think the rules are for everybody else.
“One of the problems is that there are new restrictions on the road after the pavement was widened to create a cycle path.
“Of course, we are in favour of the cycle path but it does mean the road is now narrow and people think it would be better to make the area one way, which I agree with.
“I regularly take calls from parents and residents and this issue is on the agenda at every parent council meeting.
“There are some parents who don’t think about the safety of our pupils – even when it’s their own child.”
Two weeks ago Janette missed a GP appointment because a parent parked beside her car, blocking it in, and refused to move.
She said: “The police say they can’t move them if they are on the yellow lines, it’s up to the council. The council can’t do much about it because they are only parked there for a short space of time.
“The whole street is congested and it’s dangerous for children to cross. A child was knocked down a couple of years ago and it’s a wonder no one has been more badly hurt. It’s a joke.”
St Paul’s is far from the only school in the city with this problem and the Evening Times is regularly contacted about the issue.
If you see parents flouting parking rules outside your local school then use our online system to get in touch.