Some people park prperly and then other cars move and more re-park - someone who apparently used excessive space might not in fact have done so.
Not in this case -- SWMBO has relayed to me that this particular pair of drivers do indeed park in a double space on their own.
>> (not in middle of) parking in bays correctly either
Again doubtful -- the road I'm talking about just isn't busy enough for this to be the majority of occasions.
Why? Many people who do do these things have only just passed and according to the above theory ought to be A1-OK.
Well then they really shouldn't have passed in the first place.
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Not in this case -- SWMBO has relayed to me ..........
Well, she's bound to be on your side and take every available opportunity to slag off the two drivers you both see as being in the wrong. Live and let live is my motto. I gave up being an angry young man at about the age of 21.
Edited by L'escargot on 08/09/2008 at 13:36
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Well she's bound to be on your side and take every available opportunity to slag off the two drivers you both see as being in the wrong.
There have been occasions when I have gone out for half an hour -- with my car parked next to another and a car-sized space in front or behind a neighbour has also vacated -- and have come back to find one of said cars in the very manner I describe. Neighbours claim not to have moved their cars, and indeed they appear to be in the same place.
Indeed on one occasion I did notice that the car in question had been parked in the bay area as I left.
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Let Lud know where you live - he'll come round in his Ford Escort and shunt all the cars closer together with his rugged bumpers ;o)
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Great minds think alike DD.
But I might borrow my daughter's bf's immaculate navy blue Cherokee, give it a bit of patina...
On the op though, I would reiterate my utter contempt for the parking fault described. There are incompetent idiots, selfish idiots, and incompetent selfish idiots. Doesn't matter whether they do it purposely or not.
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On the op though I would reiterate my utter contempt for the parking fault described. There are incompetent idiots selfish idiots and incompetent selfish idiots. Doesn't matter whether they do it purposely or not.
Thankyou Lud -- someone out there who is in agreement with me, rather than seeking to blame the person on the receiving end.
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in the very manner I describe. Neighbours claim not to have moved their cars and indeed they appear to be in the same place.
Wow. It seems clear that parking is a significant factor in your life, interrogating the neighbours, etc., and all. Perhaps you could hide somewhere, and catch them at it, and do something about it?
Alternatively, de-stress, and park somewhere a short distance away.
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Wow. It seems clear that parking is a significant factor in your life interrogating the neighbours etc. and all. Perhaps you could hide somewhere and catch them at it and do something about it?
It is hardly an interrogation when they're outside, and you ask them a straight question.
As I say though, I do get the message. Parking without consideration for other drivers is clearly a perfectly acceptable pastime and I will gladly stop worrying about it and fall into line.
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Live and let live is my motto. I gave up being an angry young man at about the age of 21. <<
I'll remind you of that remark next time you have a go at the 40mph brigade.....
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Right then, message received and understood.
There is clearly absolutely nothing wrong with parking in the way described, and I have to say that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
I will thus, from this point forth park a minimum of ten feet in either direction from any parked car.
It's been an educational thread, and I thank you for putting me straight.
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It's the ones that using parking as a waiting area that get me.
They can see you want to park, you can even politely ask them to go and wait elsewhere so you can park - but will they move? No.
Also those that take ages to 'leave' the bay because they have issues of attachment to it...
...you know the ones, you are there, waiting for them to load three carrier bags etc., take the trolley back, get in, seat belt on, start the engine and take an absolute age to do this.
Some really scarey control freaks out there...
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I will thus from this point forth park a minimum of ten feet in either direction from any parked car.
Now, I think you know very well that this isn't nearly enough. You must also do the following:
1) park so that the front of the car is a minimum of 2 feet out from the kerb, and 3 feet at the rear.
2) If it is raining, ensure that you leave the wipers halfway up the screen. This shows everyone that you are so busy and important that you didn't even have time to move a column stalk a couple of notches before getting out.
3) Never remove any expired pay and display tickets, however inconveniently-placed they might be.
4) Ditto flyers left under your wipers.
Once you are regularly doing all that, then you can consider yourself a fully-fledged parking abandoner :-)
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1) park so that the front of the car is a minimum of 2 feet out from the kerb and 3 feet at the rear.
Ah yes of course -- mustn't forget about that ;)
2) If it is raining ensure that you leave the wipers halfway up the screen. This shows everyone that you are so busy and important that you didn't even have time to move a column stalk a couple of notches before getting out.
Argh! I will confess to being one of those obsessive types who has been known to go back to the car and correct wipers when I've forgotten to put them back to rest correctly...
3) Never remove any expired pay and display tickets however inconveniently-placed they might be.
Guilty as charged on that one -- I think there are about 20 of them sandwiched between the windscreen and the back of the dash. So I'm getting into the swing of things!
Once you are regularly doing all that then you can consider yourself a fully-fledged parking abandoner :-)
:)
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Unless the parking is marked on the road, tough, I'm afraid. Its a shame the people on the other streets mentioned feel the need to serve punishment/rebuke etc on those they feel have somehow wronged them. Perhaps we all need to be paranoid.
As a point, so much of urban Britain such as old streets, terraced houses and these kind of places were built to house people who would never have a car let alone two or three, they were probably built when cars hadnt been invented yet. 1 medium car is all you can fit across an average terrace house.
Frustrating, yes, it must be, but not everyone is out to inconvenience.
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Frustrating yes it must be but not everyone is out to inconvenience.
OK, yes, this is fair comment.
Answer me this though -- in what way is my complaint any less valid than complaints about drivers who travel everywhere at 10mph below the limit, don't have any real concept of what is going on around them and stop at roundabouts that are perfectly clear?
Or, indeed, middle-lane hogs?
After all, none of these are deliberately setting out to inconvenience people are they? None of them are going to directly cause accidents if others are alert around them.
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Middle - lane hogs - thats a dig at me. Forget it, we're talking about parking arent we?
Less valid? If you feel hard done by, then thats how you feel. Not my job to say how you should feel or to persuade you you are wrong. I dont think your complaint is any less valid. Its a discussion forum you tell us how you feel - thats what matters.
Inconvenience, well, there are worse things you know. I have to battle everyday to park near my house. Yes there are inconvenient parkers about. I just park further away and accept that I dont have a driveway at this address and everyone else pays their road tax.
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Have you thought of requesting council to put parking bay marks on the road?
Or if you own the parking space (ie. if it is shown in your property deed) you are allowed to mark your area as it is a private property.
If it is just public road without any marking, I'm afraid you can't do much.
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If it is just public road without any marking I'm afraid you can't do much.
I know fine well that there is nothing I can do about it, hence the stereotypical British whine about things on these here forums.
Having learned that the majority of respondents on a respected car-related forum do not consider the practice to be of any concern, I have resolved to no longer care.
Hence I will fall into line and deprive others of parking spaces in the same way.
I'm tinged with some guilt, as I am punishing innocents as well as the guilty, but hey ho that's the way life is.
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jase1, I sympathise. There is a person of the female persuasion (mid-30s - 40ish) who lives 3 doors from me and is incapcable of parking her Polo (POLO!) in her driveway (scared of the gap between the garden walls), and in front of her own house on the street should there be a car in front of each neighbouring house, due to an inability to parallel park.
Her solution? Ditch the car in front of my house, which, being near the end of the street and occupied by people and neighbours who go to work for a living during daylight hours, usually offers a large swathe of parallel-free parking, even when there is no car in front of her own house. Opposite my house is a long run of garden fence, and loads of empty kerb-space to park in (where our second car always goes in order not to take up space in front of others' houses), but no, beloved Polo has to be parked in front of my house so she doesn't have to cross the street. I put up with this for months (despite having a tiny baby in a carry cot and a 3 year old fidget merchant hell bent on getting himself run over to get to the house, dragging them across the street in all weathers) in the spirit of not-wanting-to-upset-the-neighbours, and in the knowledge that it's free parking in our street so it's my tough luck really. But then she did it and went away on holiday for two weeks, leaving the bleeding Polo in front of our house all that time. Her return was greeted with a politely written note on the windscreen pointing out the inconveniece and lack of consideration of her behaviour, and it hasn't happened again.
My final solution? Moving to a house with a driveway.
Edited by Alanovich on 08/09/2008 at 14:29
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My final solution? Moving to a house with a driveway.
Better still, move to a house with a garage. Then you can sleep peacefully at night in the knowledge that your car is locked up safe and sound.
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My final solution? Moving to a house with a driveway.
Yeah, that is a good idea. It worked for me.. For the most part. However I came home on Wednesday last week to find a Ford Fiesta parked across my drive... I don't like leaving the new car on the street because, well, I live in a bad area and the last car was keyed and had badges removed by vandals.
But this time I parked up and then noticed the carpark across the road, the one with room for ten cars on it, was totally empty. I ranted and raved to myself but then went into my house and sat waiting for the car to move. Maybe the car park was full when they arrived?
What happens next? The people across the road have visitors. The visitors double park right next to my car reducing the quite busy road down to a single lane.
So now I'm double parked and I can't get my own car on to my own drive because two people are unable to grasp the concept of 'car park'.
In retrospect I should have chucked the car on next doors drive because they haven't been seen in six months.
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>>>There are incompetent idiots, selfish idiots, and incompetent selfish idiots.<<<
My wife is in no way an idiot - she just can't park to save her life! and she 's been driving for some 30 years or so ... she can't reverse either (praps she is an idiot!)
There's a rather nice green T5 auto est. on a certain inrternet auction sit-e, so I played with the idea acquiring said Volvo - "won't be able to park it" came a familiar voice!
Dog.
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>>>tiny baby in a carry cot and a 3 year old fidget merchant hell bent on getting himself run over to get to the house, dragging them across the street in all weathers)<<
My, my, how thymes have changed ... my ole mum brought up 6 children on the 5th floor of a block of flats with no lift, had to carry the shopping up 1st, then come down for the children, never had access to a car all her married life and was nearly blown up many a time in WW2 ... It never did her any harm as she lived to 88.
Perhaps that is what's wrong with *Great* Britain - we're a nation of whinging poms!
Dog.
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... my ole mum brought up 6 children onthe 5th floor of a block of flats with no lift had to carry the shopping up 1st then come down for the children never had access to a car all her married life and was nearly blown up many a time in WW2 ... It never did her any harm as she lived to 88. Perhaps that is what's wrong with *Great* Britain - we're a nation of whinging poms!
Yes, times have changed and personal circumstances in post-war Britain are hardly the subject of discussion here.
I'd like to see anyone remain calm after 6 months of someone parking *UNNECESSARILY* in front of their house when the inconsiderate parker has an empty driveway.
Nothing legally wrong with what she did of course, but that doesn't excuse it.
Yes, there are more important things to worry about in the world, but I think we all get a bit riled when on the receiving end of constant lack of courtesy. And that's all I'm asking for, a bit of courtesy. Your old Mum's situation was not the result of a lack of consideration, it would seem, and in any case I could bore you with what my old Mum put up with when she had children (we didn't even have anything as luxurious as a flat, just a two room caravan with no plumbing and electricity), but it's really not the point here, is it?
I'm talking about good old fashioned manners, I'm sure your old Mum would approve.
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>>>I'm talking about good old fashioned manners, I'm sure your old Mum would approve.<<<
Ladydog is in 100% agreement with you Alanovich, in fact she says she would park in front of her drive, and when she came a'knocking, she would say well, I've got nowhere else to park!
Dog. (Don't mention the war!)
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Anyone with a driving licence, and I mean anyone, can be taught to park any size of car in a few minutes by the following method provided there is a space at least a couple of inches longer than the car being parked.
Get them to stand outside the car they wish to learn to park. Find the mid point in its length. Identify a feature inside the car which lines up with that mid length point. For example a seat belt mounting or something.
Pull alongside the vehicle you wish to park behind.
Position your car about 18" away from that vehicle.
Line the mid point of your car up with the rearmost point of the other car.
Apply full left lock.
Reverse slowly until your front bumper has only just passed the back of the other car.
Stop.
Apply full right lock.
Continue to reverse until your car is straight.
You will be in the space but too far back.
Straighten the wheels and inch forward until you are equidistant from the cars in front and behind.
Works every time........ guaranteed.
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space at least a couple of inches longer than the car being parked.
Slight exaggeration there, methinks!
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Come on, it has to be an exaggeration -- if you turn a rectangle around by ten degrees it takes up slightly more space in each direction.
Two inches either way ain't enough.
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"Anyone with a driving licence, and I mean anyone, can be taught to park any size of car in a few minutes"
Try that with Polish drivers and see how that works for you. Without exception, they all park in such a manner (abandonment of vehicle) that an Englishman wouldn't find acceptable unless he had really, really, really, acute, severe and explosive diarrhea.
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>>all park in such a manner (abandonment of vehicle)
Something to do with the wide open potato fields surely BBD? Parking by 'abandoning the car' is not uncommon in countries with ample space. Americans are very casual in the far west. They just apply the handbrake, point the pickup towards a patch of shade (if there be such) and bale out before it has even stopped, heading for the fridge. It's a bit like that in a lot of Africa too.
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Necessity is the Mother of invention. I have to park up to six times a day in a variety of city and town centres. I have a large car. The weight and volume of the things I have to shift in and out of the car regularly mean that I want a parking space as close as possible to where I am going. I will therefore often take a space that to some may look tight.
Using the method described above you can get pretty much any car into the tightest of spaces. Critical to the method though is knowing the exact mid point of your car. The mistakes often made even by experienced drivers are not stopping between the stages and not getting absolutely full lock on before beginning the next stage.
Try it with chalk marks initially if you feel unsure. You'll be surprised how natural and easy it becomes..
Or don't....what do I care........
;-)
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This is one area social interaction where I'm still an unreconstructed MCP I'm afraid - only redeemed by the fact that I'm equally contemptuous of men also who can't park/reverse in general, or parallel park in particular, as well.
Not being able to park proficiently is so contemptible because, at the end of the day, it's not a high risk manoeuvre or macho signifier - it just requires a bit of practice & consideration (or thought) for others.
As HB notes, there are simple formulaic methods you can practice, so it's not one of those skills like being able to flute your tonque or do mirror writing (I can do both BTW!). It should be made a more important part of the driving test - once you 'break through' the barrier of competent parking technique it becomes an enjoyable & satisfying exercise to do it properly.
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Humph, I'm with you! 18" either end is "acres" of room, I've got into spaces with 6" to spare at either end... the only worry I have when I do it is that the people either side may not be quite as good at getting out without touching my car, though!
Back to the OP and you could always use the Parisian method of parking - back up to the badly parked car and "bumper up", then rev up and push it to a better position and then park yours as normal!
Edited by b308 on 08/09/2008 at 16:44
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Careful b308. Any suggestion of shunting makes certain elements here see red.
Frankly though I have to say if you care about little marks on your bumpers and corner scuffs from tight or clumsy parking you are going to be a very unhappy bunny indeed in this town.
Is this a moment to complain once again about manufacturers fitting pathetic so-called bumpers that are really no better than lipstick at protecting the car, and that often cost hundreds of pounds to replace when they get nudged slightly? What a damn insult, and what a squalid racket.
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Well, as it happens b308, I spent quite a few of my formative driving years in Florence. Talk about the "quick and the dead" when it came to parking ! You learned very quickly not to park at the end of a street as it was quite likely that you would return to find your car halfway across a junction having been shunted up the queue a few times. Especially not good if you were near the River Arno, it flows fast through there in Winter !
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Was tongue-in-cheek, chaps! I know it wouldn't be acceptable behaviour over here!! :)
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Its amazing just how many people cannot park, either parallel or in a typical car park space, without the six shunt drive in followed by the even more shunt reverse out, mind boggling.
And i have every sympathy with the victims of inconsiderate parking too.
I give advice to new HGV drivers who just can't get their heads around blind side reverse parking in particular, but just as easy to adapt to a bit of parking practice for nervous car drivers too.
Go to deserted car park, bound to be one somewhere on a weekend in an industrial estate or similar, take a few cones, or if unavailable large empty cardboard boxes.
Choose your bay to practice, set out the obstacles as if they were the extremities of other cars, and practice blind side and parallel parking, preferably using mirrors only, it comes together surprisingly quickly when you don't have any worries of damaging other cars.
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Good tip GB. I know we are talking about completely different sizes of vehicles but a trick also driven by necessity in my case is parking using only the door mirrors. (You're not allowed to say wing mirrors on here for some reason ! ) As my estate cars are usually full to the roof there is little choice but to do so.
Habit forming actually and I now find that I do that even when the view through the rear screen is unobstructed. My wife says she finds it disturbing. However, to be fair, she says many things about me are disturbing, so nothing fresh there really.
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In the Spanish city of Valencia it is quite common to park parallel to the kerb with the handbrake off, enabling some "gentle shoving" rather than aggressive dinging to occur during parking manoeuvres. (The city is mostly flat so cars don't tend to run away down the road.) When I'm parked fairly tight I now do the same, but with the car protruding a little and leaving the wheels turned and locked at about 15 or 20 degrees, so that the car can only move in a smallish arc.
On a recent trip to NY, I noticed a fashion for enormous bumper protectors, in the form of erstwhile (interior) rubber mats, held in place by straps emanating from boot or bonnet. Oddly, most cars wearing these accessories were the enormous 4 x 4 SUV monstrosities so many of us love to hate, and some even had the customary metal tubing overriders too!
It's a jungle out there.
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In the Spanish city of Valencia it is quite common to park parallel to the kerb with the handbrake off, enabling some "gentle shoving" rather than aggressive dinging to occur during parking manoeuvres
I'm not quite sure why, but I find this ernormously impressive. It makes me re-calibrate my entire view of our Iberian friends.
Edited by woodbines on 09/09/2008 at 16:42
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Nice thread. The basic problem is that the car is a precious piece of baggage which has the useful property of carrying people from A to B. When they no longer wish to use it, it has to be left somewhere. If they are lucky they have off-road space - if not, the stationary baggage is left on the public road, quite often where that is forbidden or an obstruction. As there is no public right to do that, one has to take one's chances, or rely on neighbourly co-operation. Of course that has nothing to do with parking it tidily or economically.
I'm lucky - I have both space AND a garage. But I sometimes have difficulty getting out onto the public road ...
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Careful b308. Any suggestion of shunting makes certain elements here see red.
Once owned a VW Beetle - turning cirlcle of a super tanker as you will probably know...
...sorry to the Rolls Royce Corniche II owner Camden Town tube station late 80's - you did box me in and I wanted to get out to go home.
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you have to be careful about putting the blame on the wrong person with this particular complaint i have parked well a couple of times in Llandudno only to come back to my car to find it with 1/2 car lenghts back and front and my car looking like it was parked by a little old lady.
I'm not saying that nobody parks intentionally leaving alot of room wasted and preventing others from parking but it might not always be what looks like the offending vehicle thats at fault
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That's true welshlad, when they are in the middle of a long bay. But when the carphounds park seven feet from the end of the bay you've got them bang to rights and can imagine what you would like to say in a cold cutting voice when they waddled up stinking and looking vile searching for their disgusting keys.
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