Parking outside my house....

[ManneryTowers]

I know I am BU about some of it, but I'm pregnant and grouchy.
We have a driveway that just fits both our cars but due to the front brick wall there is only a narrow entrance. To reverse our cars on we need space in the road to manoeuvre. Not much, just enough so we can pull across the road then back in. Made slightly tricky by a massive old tree in front of the brick wall. With me? Good.
What is really, utterly boiling my beef is the guy next door insists on parking his work van three inches over our dropped kerb. Every single day. Not enough to really moan about but bloody annoying. Especially when he could back up and just block off his own drive a bit. (He also has space for two vehicles on his).
What's really started to get on my nerves is that the neighbour on the other side has now also taken to parking vehicles on the road outside our house. Either work men's vans, their son's car or their visitors car. The space on that side of the road means two vehicles can be parked there, but they always choose to park outside our house and not their own.
I've come home tonight, after a sincerely crappy day, with a grizzly toddler in the back and found a van on both sides of our dropped kerb, the usual one just over it and the other right up to the edge. I could barely swing in forwards without scraping one of the vans or my car. Plus now tomorrow morning it will be a nightmare to see what's coming down the road when I have to back off the drive.
I know it's petty and there really are bigger problems, but it's annoying me every single time I come home and it's making me not like living here. The guy with the van won't move it as he's had issues about parking his van there before with the previous owners of our house (which we didn't know when we bought).
Sorry for such an essay but any ideas please? Is there anything I can actually do or am I just U?

[GoldPlatedBacon]

Park 3 inches over the driveway of the guy with the van? Obviously no closer to your driveway but it might make a point

[Purplepicnic]

Unless they're parking completely over the dropped kerb, there's not a lot you can do. You might look a bit silly making a fuss about three inches.

Annoying though. You could have a friendly chat and say how difficult it is for you and appeal to their good conscience.

Or can you get the dropped kerb extended?

[Mumteedum]

Bah, IMO yadnbu. Bluddy work vans parked like entitled nobbers are really annoying, and thats without being pg.

Sadly not sure what you can do practically speaking.

[PrimalLass]

I would just park one of your own cars in the road as often as possible.

[Mumteedum]

In my old house, ndn had mahoosive recovery lorry parked slightly across our front door. Cracked our drive as was too heavy for concrete. Apparently you just have to put up with it though. Like neighbours across road who had to look out their window at double glazing high top van, blocking light and view. Meh! I'm grumpy too today (ill).

[FoolsAndJesters]

You are being a bit unreasonable but I can see where you are coming from. As you know you've no more right to park in front of you house than anyone else but that doesn't mean it isn't irritating.
I think the best way of dealing with it is to either just accept it or go and see your neighbours and be really polite and friendly and asks them to take pity on you. Maybe you could ham up how rough you are feeling with your pregnancy. Otherwise what about asking the council to increase the width of your drop curb. I don't know how much that would cost or if it's possible.

[Andrewofgg]

They won't extend the drop curb beyond the OP's boundary - nor should they.

[Collaborate]

YANBU. We get this occasionally. I just knock on their door every time and ask them to move, explaining that they're blocking me in/out. Usually works.

If they refuse to move it, do as a PP suggests and do the same to them. Alternatively park within an inch of the back of them, and park the other car sticking out of your drive. Move them when asked. But do take your time about it.

[ManneryTowers]

They won't extend the drop curb beyond the OP's boundary - nor should they.
But the brick wall runs along the front of our boundary. If we took the brick wall down completely the drive would be totally open (with a big tree in the way). Would they extend it all the way along then?

[ManneryTowers]

There is a pavement with intermittent hedging and trees between our boundary and the road, sorry that wasn't very clear.

[Bamaluz]

You could apply for planning permission for this, but you would have to arrange and pay for the work to be done.

[SoupDragon]

For a fee, yes.

When they resurfaced our pavements, the council offered discounted dropped kerb extensions to us. I had mine made wider. Also, a house round the corner has recently had their extended to run the whole width of their property.

[Bamaluz]

x-post.

That would complicate matters, it might be worth looking into though.

[YesterdayOnceMore]

Does the Highway Code not say that you should reverse into your drive?

[Arrowfanatic]

We are the only house without a double dropped kerb so our house always has cars out front. The neighbours converted their driveway into a triple driveway and as they have 4 cars now one is always in front of our house (even when their driveway is free).

Stupidly our drop kerb doesn't cover our whole driveway so we have to swing into it (much like yourself) and with our neighbour one side parking her car right to the edge of her driveway (literally up to the boundary so she has extra space on the drivers side but just inches to our car) and our other neighbours blocking part of the kerb we struggle.

[SoupDragon]

Does the Highway Code not say that you should reverse into your drive?

The OP says she usually does but it is impossible To do so when people are parked right up to and over her dropped kerb.

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

Ask the council for a T bar to be painted on the road......or is it a H bar.?

Can't remember, council did it for us. Argue it on a safety basis that as well as struggling to enter and exit you can't see safely. We had to try twice, council said no then first time and we appealed.

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

I believe Highway Code says you shouldn't reverse out a drive into a busy road. So it depends if OP lives on a busy road or not.

[Delphine31]

I feel your pain OP. Same thing is happening here but people are parking about 1ft overlapping my driveway. It's kind of workable if only one car does it, but when a second car blocks the other side of my driveway it makes it impossible to access/exit my driveway.

[Pipbin]

I would knock and mention it. Make sure you wear something that makes your bump really obvious.

[Lweji]

As far as I know 3 inches or 3 meters makes no difference. It's still in front of the dropped kerb.

I'd ask them to move the van from in front of your kerb every time and park in front of their drive if they don't.

[SauvignonBlanche]

Wait until you go on Mat leave then leave your car where he normally leaves the van.

[Lweji]

Actually I can't see how it's easier to park in the drive forwards than in reverse, regardless. It's front parking that usually takes up more space.

[LifeofI]

I dont think you are bu that is annoying
Just explain how hard it is to get out in general with out the extra work

[ICanSeeForMiles]

If it was really tight for you to get in, I would have just sat in the car and beeped till he came out and moved his van. Inconvenience him a little for a change.
not helpful, I know