Numbers of school zig-zag parking tickets doubled

Yellow zig-zags outside schools order motorists to keep entrances clear

The number of tickets issued for stopping on the restricted zig-zag area outside UK schools almost doubled in two years, official figures show.

Freedom of Information figures obtained by a car insurance company show the number of fines issued rose from 14,564 in 2011 to 28,169 in 2013.

Research by AXA Car Insurance claims only 17% of people know stopping on the zig-zags is banned at school-run times.

The Local Government Association said parking there puts children at risk.

The UK Highway Code states that motorists must not wait or park or stop to set down and pick up passengers on the yellow zig-zags which mark school entrances.

AXA sent Freedom of Information requests to all UK police forces and local authorities asking how many parking tickets had been issued for parking on school zig-zags during the morning and afternoon restricted periods.

Parking fines

The company received responses from 421 out of 491 of the bodies contacted.

An accompanying survey of 2,004 UK adults showed that over half (1,011) had seen a car stopped or parked on the zig-zags at a restricted time within the last year.

Of these the majority (88%) said they had seen this type of illegal parking at least once a week.

The poll included 315 parents who drove their children to school. Of these just over a quarter (27%) admitted to parking on the zig-zags during the school run.

Supplementary questions revealed the reasoning that people believed it was acceptable to stop "just to drop off" or "just for a minute".

A spokesman for the Local Government Association said: "The school run is increasingly dangerous for children with thousands injured or having a near-miss accident around schools every year.

"Concerned parents and teachers are turning to their council for help with CCTV camera cars introduced by some to try and deter motorists parking recklessly on zig-zag lines.

"Warnings have often been issued to people in the first instance to try and educate them about the dangers of parking on zig-zag lines before fines are issued to those who refuse to stop parking dangerously.

"Plans by the government to ban the use of CCTV camera cars will only make it easier for parents who fail to recognise the dangers of blocking zig-zag lines to park illegally and place more school children at risk."

James Barclay of AXA Car Insurance said: "In many cases, parents can be their own worst enemies. 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."