Parking half on pavement, half on road is an offence and many years ago I got a ticket for it. In fairness the copper who issued it did bang on the door, but as we were students we chose not to open up!!!
Now that I have a double push chair it is annoying when people do this as I cannot squeeze through.
As to your neighbour, I would just ignore him/her. If they cannot be more understanding then I wouldn't bother with them - life is far too short.
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The neighbour has kind of shot himself in the foot here, hasn't he? When you start parking entirely on the road, you're only going to block his view more.
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Now that I have a double push chair it is annoying when people do this as I cannot squeeze through.
One of my colleagues is in a wheelchair, and has endless problems with people who park on the pavements.
He has now got to be well-known to the local traffic dept, as he simply calls them, and asks for a 'lifter' to be sent round...
Car ends up in pound, he carrys on his merry way.
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In fairness the copper who issued it did bang on the door, but as we were students we chose not to open up!!!
Visions of Neil from The Young Ones running around are appearing in my mind.
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Sorry, from what you've said I don't have too much sympathy for your flatmates. The double yellow lines are there for a reason and parking on the pavment is both selfish and dangerous. Even if the nearest usable off road spaces are some distance away that still doesn't give them the right to park as they like. Why choose to own a car but live in a place where you can't park? I've lost count of the number of times we've had to walk in the road with our young children simply because some cretin has decided to park on the pavement. Usually there are spaces nearby it's just that these people are too lazy to walk a few yards and so selfish they put the paintwork on their cars ahead of the safety of pedestrians, Rant over !
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I think it is true to say that the Police have the right to book & tow away any vehicle, parked anywhere on a public road which, in their opinion, may cause an obstruction.
I would guess that parking on a busy road, even if there were no prohibitions on the parker's side could be interpreted in this light, particularly if complaints were made!
OR you could move to Spain where the local plod don't care where you park - pedestrian crossings included!
Roger in Spain
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Apropos Volvoman's feelings - it is a nightmare for disabled folks here. There are a very few designated parking spaces for the disabled. Where they are provided, almost without exception, non-disabled persons car/s is/are parked there.
There are few ramps on & off pavements and there are always cars parked on or over them
Roger in Spain
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Volvoman, I agree that parking on the pavement is not acceptable - I don't do it - but here there is no option as there are no side streets in proximity to the house to use. In some sort of defence the footpaths are quite wide and passable but, yes, they are partially obstructed.
We all try to live alongside each other but when you have neighbours like ours there is no give or take - even when they bend the rules to suit themselves!
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A colleague of mine who works in the field of disability access has an answer to cars parked on the pavement. She's right - if you're having difficulty getting around, use a wheelchair, zimmer frame, buggy or are partially sighted, then pavement parking is one more way the world makes your life just that bit more difficult.
She always carries a cheap lipstick - makeup counters have bargain bins of particularly nasty shades, apparently - and leaves a polite message for the driver written on the windscreen.
Because of its grease content, the wipers aren't that great against lipstick, and she feels that the inconvenience caused may have some behaviourist learning effect...
I've never tried striking back, but parking on the pavement and on cycle lanes should get you towed away, as far as I'm concerned.
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Can't agree with this. If you cannot park a car legally near your house, you shouldn't have one, full stop.
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Can't agree with this. If you cannot park a car legally near your house, you shouldn't have one, full stop.
no one has a god given right to the stretch of pavement/kerb out side their house!
I don't know where this bizzare notion sprang up from.
"this is my house, It's my RIGHT to park right outside it"
I've seen neighbours come to blows over whose car was 6 inches to far over. it's stupid
Thankfully I don't live anywhere near people like that any more.
Jab
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Perhaps you misunderstand me. My point is that if you are not prepared to park your car somewhere legal, you shouldn't have one. I am not saying that you shouldn't have a car if the only place that you can legally park it is in a nearby street (which will irritate the residents thereof). I had to do this very thing when I lived in a flat with no on-street parking. It used to annoy the people who lived on the street where I did park , but I took the attitude that unless and until the street was declared a residents' parking zone, I had every right to park there. I got some very funny notes on my windscreen, including one from an old codger who said that I had no right to park outside his house because he was a local councillor. Well that made me laugh.
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You do have to be careful when parking away from your house though to at least be a bit sensible about it. We suffer from people from either the far end of the street of the street we join on to using our street to park. The lack of space is a pain but the irritation is the inconsiderate parking. Yesterday saw two cars occupying the space 4 could have fitted on if they had not left spaces not quite big enough to get another car in between them. It's common for people to just dump cars without thinking that if they pulled up a bit someone else could get in. Also, one idiot in particular parks overhanging the passageway beside my house people use to turn around in (dead end street). Small cars can still get turned with difficulty. Larger cars and vans have to back out on to a busy road with limited visibility. Of course she lives at the other end of the street so probably doesn't appreciate the problem she is causing but when she does that and still leaves 3/4 of a space to the car in front you really have to wonder...
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>>when she does that and still leaves 3/4 of a space to the car in front you really have to wonder...
SteveH42,
I do appreciate your concerns, and in fact have much the same thing in my own street where there is very little on-road parking. I also know that none of us has a god-given right to any space on any road that we don't own ourselves.
I would mention, though, without wishing to inflame anyone for any reason - you say that this driver that bothers you is a 'she', and that she routinely parks so badly that she is denying other cars parking space purely because of her selfish parking. I am wondering whether this neighbour of yours is like so many, many women drivers, who have absolutely no idea of space, and just about manage to manouvre into a gap large enough for two buses without causing damage to the car in front or behind.
Maybe she's not being selfish deliberately, maybe she just has no spatial awareness, which I believe is a common problem, for females in particular.
HF
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Hi HF,
In other circumstances I could appreciate this. However, where she parks is on the end of a row of cars - as I say, overhanging a passageway. You just need to look at it to see the space between the end of the car and the start of the passageway is minus 6" and the space between the bonnet and the next car is about 10'.
Also, I'd understand the point of leaving excess space to the next car had I not seen her tonight park outside her own house within a few feet of the next car with no trouble at all in to a much harder space to get in to. (Not that it can be much easier than driving on to the end of a row of cars!) Either she isn't thinking about what she is doing or for some reason she is intentionally making sure no-one can else can use that space - it may be she is worried about getting boxed in with limited space to manouvre out. That doesn't in my book justify regularly taking up far more space than you need though.
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I think a lot of this is just down to a simple lack of awareness and consideration. Nowadays people routinely block pavements whilst they have a cosy chat, stand in doorways, leave their shopping trollies in the middle of the aisle etc. It's not deliberate, they just don't know any better. In such cases I make a point of loudly saying 'excuse me' this almost always results in an apology, indicating those concerned were simply unaware of what they were doing. When it comes to drivers, most of the time people just seem to drive up, dump their cars and go on their way without even looking back, let alone considering the needs of others or for that matter the danger to their own cars. Of course, for more considerate and thoughtful people, this sort of thing can appear to be premeditated but I think these people are just living in a world of their own. Sad I'll grant you.
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Thanks, Volvoman, that is pretty much what I was trying to convey - most people don't do it on purpose but unless you think about it you can cause problems very easily and it's especially hard to realise if you park away from where you live as you aren't on hand to witness them.
We've got one who always parks directly outside his house - he must line it up or something - but can't see that by doing so he leaves 1.75 spaces behind him and 0.75 in front (to the rest of the cars who have pretty much managed to realise the need to park up if we are all to get in)
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Hello Steve,
I do get what you're saying. Maybe the idea of absolute mindless stupidity is more spot-on than what I was trying to say. This exists everywhere, (I really wish I'd had a video-cam with me today outside my kid's school, there was a really classic lady there!) unfortunately it seems no-one really thinks of anyone else these days, just themselves.
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no-one really thinks of anyone else these days, just themselves.
How true! Classic tonight, chap in a Laguna uses the passageway beside my house to turn around then parks half across it! Plenty of space for him to pull forward and surely the fact he'd used it to turn in might just be a hint that others may do the same thing? He got a look and a snide comment as I was going out at the time and had a heck of a time getting around and out.
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Yup, Steve,
Reminds me so much of my beloved neighbours.
I'm separated from the neighbours on the left by an alleyway (won't even mention the neighbours on the right who are even worse!) but for the last 6 months or so they have been having work done on their house - all fine, I know. These people have been using the alleyway (which is supposed to lead to our garages) as their own personal space. They have had skips there all the time, and if not skips the their rubbish blocking up the place.
That didn't bother me, cos I don't use the garage access much. What DID bother me was, I decided it was time to clear my old rubbish out too, and got some put out in the alley (like the neighbours) ready for taking to the dump. Next morning, message from neighbours through the letterbox, threatening, how dare I block the alley etc, their builders will "not be happy" with me. That to me is a threat, more so because they know damn well I am a single person.
To kind of bring this back to motoring (sorry and please be gentle with me mods) the neighbours in question almost always have their vans or other vehicles parked blocking the alleyway, which as I said is not too bad, but it does make it harder for me to park in my usual space (which, I know, is not god-given).
I reckon i could make all sorts of complaints for all sorts of things done by my neighbours, but in the end I guess you have to weigh it up between winning the argument and continuing to live there.
Normally I reckon it just is not worth it!
HF
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It's common for people to just dump cars without thinkingthat if they pulled up a bit someone else could get in.
>>.....but when she does that and still leaves 3/4 of aspace to the car in front you really have to wonder...
I totally agree, BUT... I drive a Pug 306 GTi6 which has possibly the worst turning circle of any car smaller than a limo! I constantly get blocked in when people leave what's the bare minimum for them to get back out, as it's nowhere near enough for me to get out - only way to get round it is to leave a decent gap infront :o(
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Cars are an almost unique kind of property. 90% of the UK population can afford one, and most would say they must have one as the only practical form of transport. I know of no law preventing them owning one. But when they don't want to use it they believe they can leave it lying about almost anywhere, regardless of whether that stops others using theirs.
Would this 'right' extend to larger things that collectors might choose to buy - juggernauts, helicopters, for example?
Joe is fairly correct, I think. If your vehicle doesn't have a space, that doesn't entitle you to occupy communal space intended for the public to travel on.
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Can't agree with this. If you cannot park a car legally near your house, you shouldn't have one, full stop.
He has to live somewhere!
;o)
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Well I sympathise in that respect DT - sadly there is so much selfishness around these days that problems are often 'created' where, with just a little common sense and give/take, they could be avoided. How many times do you see people deliberately park in the middle of a space which could easily take 2 cars? This sort of things has knock on effects too as other vehicles are forced to park elsewhere, contributing to the sort of problems you're experiencing. Likewise, how many people have run-ins put in supposedly to allow them to park off road parking but then carry on parking in the road outside someone else's house, thereby depriving everyone of the space they've taken? If only people were more considerate, we'd all be a lot better off.
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Taken from:
tinyurl.com/2perb
"Parking in a mandatory cycle lane is likely to be an offence under Section 5, 8 or 11 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and will therefore be subject to civil enforcement by virtue of paragraphs 3(2)(b) and 4(2)(b) of Schedule 7. Parking on a cycle track, an offence under Section 21 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, is also subject to civil enforcement under the Bill by virtue of paragraphs 3(2)(g) and 4(2)(h) of Schedule 7"
Blimey! The House of Lords has a use after all!
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Part of the problem is the demographic changes which have lead to people paying a lot more money for much less space, ie, the house which have been spli up into multi-occupancy rented rooms, and the fact that new dwellings are often prohibited from including parking provision, or the developers are heavily penalised finanacially (See you local Council's Intergrated Transport Plan)
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Maybe I should start renting space on my driveway - it's easily long enough to accomodate six cars :-)
Andy
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Maybe I should start renting space on my driveway - it's easily long enough to accomodate six cars :-) Andy
Hmm Andy, are you quite sure you aren't a motor trader?
Roger in Spain
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Mmm ... what I didn't appreciate was that there are different "types" of cycle lane. There is the mandatory marked with solid white lines and blue signs - which you should not enter or park in during hours of operation. The other is marked with a broken white line and cycle symbol.
The lane outside the house is the latter and I asked a serving police officer and he told me that there is no problem to park in that type!
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And somewhat contentiously, some cycle lanes are unsuitable for their purpose anyway.
Often the colour is achieved with a "lumpy" top dressing of tarmac, which makes it to be avoided on a bike as the rolling resistance is noticeable increased.
If cars are using the whole road, you get a sweeping effect which pushes the rubbish to the very gutters. Cycles don't, yet are more susceptable to the rubbish than cars.
My local council has made cycle lanes which go up kerbs, and thus not naviagable to my trike as it camber steers, and might risk tipping over as well. There are also width restrictions it does not fit throught.
I think this is occuring where the council is rushing achieve a quota of cycle lanes, rather than the well thought out ones I have seen, sensible integrated into the whole road plan.
The sort you can park a car in, for most cyclists might as well not be there in my opinion.
I do drive, but short car trips are not kind to engines, and best avoided.
Incidently when I lived in Scotland, my house boundary, according to the land registry, ran to the middle of the road, and included a pavement. It was all council maintained, so I've no idea what the status really was.
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we have just sold our house this week, one of the reasons for selling was parking problems caused by our neighbours! both of us use our driveway
and garage but nobody else seems to know how, the houses have only been there a year and already there have been rows with other neighbours over parking, we dont cause a problem but if we were selfish and parked in the road no one would be able to get in or out. The people opposite us make it very akward to get on and off the drive, they have garage and parking to the rear of their house and only one car and still insist on using the road to park in!
Anyway, our house went on the market saturday and we sold yesterday morning, the lady who has bought from us has a huge 4x4 and a son who will use our garage for his snooker table!!
Great!
the new house we have bought has a huge double garage and double driveway and we easily have enough off road parking for 15 cars or more, its our main concern when we bought, to have a double garage, the house is wonderful and much nearer work.
the houses round us have loads of room for parking and all have at least one garage, we are hoping with our fingers crossed we dont have problems here, its a new house again as before but this time the builder seems to have realised people are likely to have at least 2 cars. I cannot wait to move!!!
I really feel for everyone on this thread with parking problems, it can make owning a house the biggest pain ever. I try not to get stressed about it but it is just so annoying!!
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