‘Do as I say, not as I do’ - parents admit to parking on school Zig-Zag lines
More than a third (35 per cent) of parents who drive their children to school think it is acceptable to stop or park on school safety Zig-Zag lines, with a quarter (27 per cent) admitting to doing so, according to research from AXA Car Insurance.
Furthermore, nine in ten (88 per cent) school-run parents have witnessed fellow motorists stopping in the restricted Zig-Zag area at least once a week.
Following an FOI request, data revealed that the number of fixed penalty charge notices given in the past three years for parking on Zig-Zag lines has risen significantly as traffic wardens shift focus. Total national figures rose from 14,564 in 2011 to 28,169 in 2013 – a 93 per cent increase.
Despite the increase, the total figure is significantly lower than the number of offences. When considering there are 30,000 schools in the UK, it equates to less than one ticket per school per year whereas the number of offences is expected to be far higher than a conservative estimate of 1.2 million* per year.
James Barclay, of AXA Car Insurance, commented: “The findings released today by our RoadSafe Schools campaign will strike a chord with many parents who are concerned about the safety of their children, especially during busy school run periods. All motorists have a duty to practise responsible driving; however, in many cases, parents can be their own worst enemies.”
In contravention of UK Motoring Law, one in five school-run parents (20 per cent) say that if they were ‘just dropping off’ or ‘just stopping for less than a minute’ (13 per cent) then it is acceptable to stop on Zig-Zag lines during the school run time.
And it is evident that there is significant confusion about what the ‘keep clear’ zone near school entrances actually means. Fewer than one in five UK adults (17 per cent) correctly responded ‘No stopping or parking during school run times’ when asked to define the meaning of a Zig-Zag line.
AXA’s report entitled ‘Facts about children and accidents’, released in June 2013, showed that pedestrian casualties among our youngest citizens had risen. Indeed, casualties among girls under eight years old were at their highest number since 2005 and more than 2,400 children had been killed or seriously injured on British roads in 2011.
Furthermore, AXA’s Local Road Safety Index, launched in August 2013, revealed that more than 85,000 child casualties (fatal, serious and slight injuries) occurred within a 500 metre radius of UK schools in the past six years.
In April, AXA launched a road safety crowdfunding campaign to enable local communities to source funds and help pay for much needed road safety initiatives to help further reduce the number of casualties on the roads.
James Barclay concluded, “Road safety is vitally important. Many parents may feel there is little danger in stopping or parking on Zig-Zag lines for a short time, however an increase in the number of parked cars near schools could affect the safety of child pedestrians. We want to encourage parents to carefully consider where they park – remembering to park further away from school drop off areas may be a little thing, but it will mean a lot to the safety of children.”
For further information about the AXA RoadSafe Schools campaign, visit axainsurancezone.com
To see local road safety figures, visit axainsurancezone.com/localroadsafetyindex
To view current road safety projects sourcing funds through the AXA crowdfunding initiative, visit bloomvc.com/curator/roadsafety