Parents caught parking 'dangerously' outside schools face £100 fines or court

POLICE REVIEWING PUBLIC VIDEOS ARE NOW CRACKING DOWN ON DANGEROUS PARKING TO PROTECT CHILDREN OUTSIDE SCHOOLS ACROSS THE WEST MIDLANDS 05:30, 22 May 2025 Parents across Birmingham are

'endangering' children and risking a £100 fine, or even court by parking in dangerous positions outside schools, police say. Motorists are being caught in the act at primary

schools across Birmingham via dashcam footage submitted to Operation Snap - the West Midlands Police team educating and prosecuting drivers using clips from the public. Drivers are putting

primary school kids at risk twice a day, during both drop off and pick-up times as they park up on the yellow zigzags, explained Sergeant Steve Evans from the team. READ MORE: We went behind

the scenes with police flooded with region's driving crimes caught on camera During a behind-the-scenes visit at Op Snap this week, Sgt Evans said though many parents take police

guidance to walk their kids to school, dashcam is catching drivers as they ignore key road markings in a bid to "get as close as possible". Road safety outside school is now one of

the priorities for the 11-strong team to 'improve' - alongside catching drivers behind near-miss collisions, careless motorists and those on their phones behind the wheel. Article

continues below "We get footage from primary schools in the Birmingham area," Sgt Evans explained, speaking from police HQ Lloyd House where the specially-trained team is based.

"Parents obviously dropping off their children, parking on the yellow zigzags outside the schools where it's obviously a keep clear area. "To me that is a dangerous position

outside the school because you are endangering children on their journey to and from school." He added: "It's not just drop off time but also pick up times, so twice a day

these vehicles are doing that. "Some parents are walking their children to school and abiding by the signs, some unfortunately are ignoring the road markings and parking on yellow zig

zags. Parents like to get as close to the school as possible. "But parking there is a safety concern, especially for the children. We try to encourage children and parents to walk to

school. Safety outside school is what we are trying to improve." For anyone caught parking in such a dangerous position, police reviewing the footage have three options: * Fixed penalty

notice of 3 points and £100 fine * Education course * Prosecution and straight to court But it's not just schools Operation Snap is focused on improving. The team reviewing the footage

- which can be around 80 submissions a day - also look out for the following: * dangerous driving * using a mobile phone while driving * not wearing a seatbelt * failing to stop at a red

traffic light * using a trailer in lane three of a motorway * crossing solid white lines * other offences where a driver is clearly not in proper control of a vehicle Once an offence is

identified on the footage, officers will send out a letter offering one of the three options, an education course, prosecution at court or a fixed penalty notice. Members of the public

should ideally try to submit their dashcam on the same day if possible, or within a couple of days to allow for postage to the driver, Sgt Evans added. The Op Snap website says it will take

submissions within ten days. So far this year, Operation Snap has issued 2,759 fixed penalty notices, sent 1,038 drivers on education courses and issued 1,137 warning letters for various

offences caught on camera. Article continues below TO SUBMIT FOOTAGE TO THE TEAM, CLICK HERE.