LAFAYETTE PARISH: Parents Ticketed While Waiting on Kids at Scott School

Scott Police issued tickets yesterday to some drivers waiting in a school pick-up line at a Scott school.

If you've driven by almost any school in Acadiana in the afternoon near dismissal time, you've had to navigate the long line of parents or guardians in cars waiting to pick up their little ones.

Some schools, like Ernest Gallet in Youngsville, are fortunate enough to have extra real estate that they were able to turn into a school pick-up line. This alleviates the extra traffic standing on the roadways around the school. And, believe me, as someone who lives in Youngsville, the addition of the on-grounds pick-up line really made a difference in my afternoon commute, cutting it by several minutes.

So, why did parents waiting in the school pick-up line at Westside Elementary in Scott receive tickets yesterday? Because they were obviously breaking a law or a city ordinance.

If you drive down Broadmoor or Roselawn Boulevard in Lafayette during the school year, you'll see "DO NOT BLOCK DRIVE" and "NO PARKING" signs in the yards of the residences there. And, if you drive down those streets in the afternoon around school dismissal time, you'll see cars lined up to pick up the kids.

If you look closely, the vast majority of those vehicles will NOT be blocking anyone's access to their driveway. Every now and then when the line starts to move, someone will momentarily stop in front of a driveway because the traffic in front of them stopped abruptly. For the most part, though, parents are respectful of the driveways (from what I've witnessed).

I know it wasn't always like that (hence: the "DO NOT BLOCK DRIVEWAY" signs), but once the parents received enough backlash from residents, they are now more respectful of the right-of-way.

It appears that the residents of Scott who have children to pick up at Westside Elementary haven't yet grasped the concept of courtesy when it comes to blocking driveways (or roadways, for that matter).

Louisiana state law prohibits the blocking of a private drive. And, I would imagine, most municipalities have laws or ordinances in place that prohibit the blocking of a roadway, hence the traffic tickets in Scott yesterday.

Do you recall how aggravated you would get when people would block up Ambassador Caffery to turn into Chick-Fil-A? Usually, it was only one or two cars, standing on the roadway preventing your passage, AND there was another lane for you to use to get around them. Now imagine if that were just a two-lane roadway and it was dozens of vehicles blocking the road.

According to KLFY TV10, the Scott Police Department issued tickets to several parents who were blocking private driveways and blocking one lane of travel on Delhomme Avenue in Scott.

Delhomme Avenue, the street in front of Westside Elementary, is a two-lane street, and parents were parking ON THE ROADWAY, blocking the westbound lane of travel, according to the Scott Police Chief.

So, tickets were issued.

KLFY quoted Chief Chad Leger as saying that the department is working with the school to develop a plan that would allow for a smoother child pick-up line at the school to, hopefully, lower congestion at dismissal time.

Until then, parents are urged to respect private property, laws, and ordinances, or else find themselves with a ticket.