School run drivers ‘promise’ to park better

SCHOOL run drivers are being made to promise to park better outside schools.

The parents have to promise not to park on zig-zag lines and other dangerous areas outside schools to stop getting into teacher’s bad books while threatening accidents.

A number of schools across Carmarthenshire experience inappropriate parental parking on the ‘Keep Clear Zig-Zags’ lines, on pavements, double parking on roads and even parking on junctions outside the school at the beginning and end of each school day.

Carmarthenshire Road Safety Action Group have supported decisive action to help prevent possible accidents outside schools because of the errant school parking and numerous complaints or near misses and frequent parking chaos outside schools.

County executive board member for transport services Cllr Colin Evans said: “The Parking Promise is an agreement between parents and the school that parents, if they have to drive their children to school, they will park appropriately.

“Parents who have signed the Parking Promise display a badge in their windscreen, which serves to further publicise the scheme.”

Cllr Evans said it was these were important messages the council had to get out at the start of ever new school year that parking on Zig-Zag lines was unacceptable. They had to drum home the message to new school run parents and reinforce the message to experience school visitors who tended to get frustrated by the abuse by new intake parents who tended not to adhere to good practice when delivering their offspring.

He said the best way to drill home the safety messages was to get the children involved. Each school had their own personalised Parking Promise logo, designed by a pupil from the school. They were asked to design a logo, and the winning entry was used for the school’s Parking Promise.

Schools receive two banners which are also designed by pupils. One has to be prominently displayed outside school and the other is for use at roadside events publicising the parking problems.

In conjunction with support from officers from Carmarthenshire Councils Road Safety and Police Community Support Officers from Dyfed Powys Police, the Parking Promise aims to raise awareness and effect a cultural and behavioural change whereby.

The police have also said they will take enforcement action against drivers ignoring road safety signage outside schools where there have been persistent problems.

Those wishing to get involved in Parent Parking Promise at their schools can contact county road safety officer Nicola Olsson on 01267228287.