Supt Crest Heading

Each Parent,

Re: Illegal Parking in the Vicinity of Schools

Despite ongoing written requests, the standard of parking in the vicinity of your child’s school is cause for serious concern due to the thoughtless, dangerous and totally illegal parking by some parents.

You will appreciate that the primary function of An Garda Siochana is the preservation of life and the prevention of injury and accordingly you are advised that illegal and dangerous driving and parking in the precincts of your child’s school will not be tolerated and will be the subject of fixed charge penalty and towing where necessary. In addition local residents have the reasonable expectation of unrestricted access to their homes.

To be clear where parking is unavailable proximate to your child’s school you are not permitted to park or drive dangerously and illegally – you are required to park safely, legally and reasonably - and if that requires walking your child a short distance to school please do so.

I would prevail upon all parents to exercise due care and attention and park reasonably in the vicinity of schools and in particular:

Do not park on a footpath at any time.
Do not perform 3 point turns in the vicinity of schools.
Do not delay after dropping off children to engage in unnecessary conversations with other parents while your vehicle is likely to cause an obstruction.
If you are obliged to attend a school meeting ensure your vehicle is parked legally beforehand.
Do not park on Yellow Zig Zag lines outside your school as you are obstructing safe crossing points for children.
Do not park where you are likely to cause an obstruction and in particular opposite a continuous white line or in front of a private residents driveway.
Do not park at or on a junction for any reason - school children cross here.
Do not park in a Disabled Parking Bay unless entitled to do so.
Do not obstruct a Bus Stop for any reason.
Do observe the advice and guidance of Traffic Wardens and the directions of Gardaí on duty.
Do observe the voluntary one way systems and access routes in place at school times designed to assist all road users.
Do extend every courtesy to School Wardens.
Do reserve parking directly outside schools for Junior Infants
Do not allow your children to alight or board a vehicle from the road – always from the footpath.
Do consider walking your child to school if you are fortunate enough to live nearby or you can park your car some distance from the school and walk there.
Do consider car-pooling to alleviate congestion and thereby improving the safety on the roads outside your child’s school.
Do consider using “ Walking Buses” to convey your children to school while at the same time developing their sense of Road Safety.

Finally – Please give good Road Safety example to our children - as they are the drivers and road users of the future.

Thank you for your cooperation in improving Road Safety for you and your children.

Austin Cox Sergeant In Charge