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AIBU?

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Original poster

Parking issues

111 replies

pollypocke · 09/04/2024 18:50

Hi all,

For a bit of context, I live on a row of 6 town houses (double fronted terraces) there are another 6 on the opposite side. The lady who lives on the end house on the opposite side has a driveway, no other houses have driveways apart from the end ones. There is a concrete bollard to mark where her driveway starts so no one can block it by parking over the driveway. My OH has a work van (not huge) and one night parked it outside of her house and about a meter away from the concrete bollard. She came over and knocked on our door and asked my OH to move his van because she couldn't see the road coming out of her driveway. He did the first time she asked as he was being polite but when he parked there again she came knocking again and asked him to reverse back away from the concrete bollard so she'd be able to see better. Bear in mind there is limited parking on our street and if OH had reversed he'd be taking up 2 spaces which hardly seems fair given the lady has her own driveway.
Anyway, my OH refused to move his van the second time but was very polite and just said he didn't want to take up 2 spaces. She went off in a huff and was clearly annoyed.

So now, she parks her own car outside of her house but just far enough away from the concrete bollard that no one else can park in front of her and her partner still parks on their drive. Their drive is big enough for 3 cars and originally they always parked their cars on the drive.

My OH wasn't malicious or mardy, he simply said if there was no other space on the street then he'd carry on parking the way he has because he's not done anything wrong but this seems to have not been good enough so she's made sure he can't park there by parking her own car there even though she has her own drive.

AIBU to think this is a bit much, considering my OH wasn't breaking any rules and was parked perfectly legally

YABU - He should just take up 2 spaces so she has more space to see

OP posts:
pinkyredrose · 10/04/2024 11:09

Idontjetwashthefucker · 10/04/2024 10:37

If he isn't parking there then someone else would be

But probably not with a van.

Jovacknockowitch · 10/04/2024 10:52

I have sympathy with both sides. Where my parents lived a whole lot of people further down the road used to park their vans (entirely legally) in the road outside my parents house rather than outside their own houses. It was genuinely impossible to see to turn out into the road, and there were a number of near misses, including a charming man who gave my elderly mum the finger as she crept out into the road and he came barrelling along at high speed overtaking the vans and nearly hit her.
Just because you can legally do something doesn't make it the considerate thing and most vans are hard to see past, and people passing them seem to be equally inconsiderate and impatient.

Idontjetwashthefucker · 10/04/2024 10:37

If he isn't parking there then someone else would be

Priminister · 10/04/2024 10:34

It very much looks from your diagram that his van does obstruct her visibility on exiting her drive. Sure, he can park there but it’s a bit of a dick move if he knows that it makes it hard for her to see oncoming traffic.

msianindian · 09/04/2024 21:46

It's difficult to tell whether the van actually blocks her depending on the how far the driveway extends. Even with the drawing. My street for example is narrow and hilly, so any large vehicle parked even a meter away makes it very difficult to see oncoming traffic because of my driveway's slope.
However, even if YANBU. What can you do about it?
It's a public space, there's no rule stating that you have to use your own driveway. She has as much right to park there, as he does.

ciaopizza · 09/04/2024 20:28

YANBU

Original poster
pollypocke · 09/04/2024 20:18

Woman2023 · 09/04/2024 20:07

I don't understand why him moving the van along "takes up two spaces". Surely it would just leave a space for a car closer to her drive.

At that time when she asked him to move because of how other cars were parked it'd mean he'd have to reverse but not have enough space to reverse back enough to have space in front of him to park so he'd be taking up 2 spaces. Hope this makes sense I'm not very good at explaining things!

OP posts:
Original poster
pollypocke · 09/04/2024 20:16

Sorry for the terrible drawing, hopefully you can make out what it is 😂
Black square is neighbours house
Her drive is to the side of her house, in front of her house is grass/plants
The purple blob is where the bollard is
Red block is OH's van
Green blob is a tree so no one can park at that side anyway
Between the bollard and the tree the curb is dropped so it's a pretty big dropped curb

Parking issues
OP posts:
msbevvy · 09/04/2024 20:10

Woman2023 · 09/04/2024 20:07

I don't understand why him moving the van along "takes up two spaces". Surely it would just leave a space for a car closer to her drive.

Yes, this.

Woman2023 · 09/04/2024 20:07

I don't understand why him moving the van along "takes up two spaces". Surely it would just leave a space for a car closer to her drive.

malmi · 09/04/2024 20:04

Where's the diagram? YABU for making people ask for one.

MrTiddlesTheCat · 09/04/2024 20:03

As a PP said, some people get in a right flap about parking outside their homes, especially vans. My mother is one of them. She goes absolutely nuts if her neighbour parks his van outside her house. It has no impact on her at all. She doesnt even drive. But she's like a meerkat, constantly stretching up from the sofa, keeping lookout in case he comes home.

SpeedwellBlue · 09/04/2024 20:00

If people parking affects visibility when pulling out, it makes sense to park across your own drive so you can see the road properly. Better than knocking a cyclist over because you can't see them.

pinkyredrose · 09/04/2024 19:59

Blanketpolicy · 09/04/2024 19:48

We have a twat with a works van in a residential area who always parks outside my window blocking my view and making it difficult to exit the drive. Always in front of our house so always just us impacted by it.

If your dh is parking a van he needs to be more considerate than car drivers.

Unfortunately I am married to our van driver twat so can’t really ask him to move it!

😂

Blanketpolicy · 09/04/2024 19:48

We have a twat with a works van in a residential area who always parks outside my window blocking my view and making it difficult to exit the drive. Always in front of our house so always just us impacted by it.

If your dh is parking a van he needs to be more considerate than car drivers.

Unfortunately I am married to our van driver twat so can’t really ask him to move it!

MinervaMcGonagallsCat · 09/04/2024 19:43

I'm not surprised she is now doing this.

You should have negotiated a compromise. Until you do nothing will change.

Meanwhile- where is your diagram?

drawnfrommemory · 09/04/2024 19:38

I can’t picture what you mean by a bollard marking her driveway starting? Presumably she has a dropped kerb as well? I’d say that as long as he parks not across her dropped kerb and not right up to it to be very nice, then he’s good to go and she’s just being awkward?

fieldsofbutterflies · 09/04/2024 19:38

It's not her fault there's limited parking, though, and it doesn't mean that he can just park wherever he wants without consideration for anyone else.

If she only objects to vans/large vehicles parking there, then it sounds like a legitimate issue to me. Maybe she's had a couple of near misses and it's scared her.

Original poster
pollypocke · 09/04/2024 19:35

WonderingWanda · 09/04/2024 19:32

I love how everyone assumes he absolutely is blocking her view from her drive. It is entirely possible that op's neighbour is just one of these people obsessed by what's parked outside their houses. Some people get a real b in their bonnet about work vans on residential streets. Sounds like she is being quite petty.

We spoke to our next door neighbour and she said she's had a similar problem when her husband parked his taxi (8 seater) in the same spot and she asked him to move too so it's not just us. I think she must just need a lot of space to pull out but with limited parking it's a bit of a squeeze for everyone else

OP posts:
Original poster
pollypocke · 09/04/2024 19:34

To answer a few questions, our street is a quiet residential street, 30mph speed limit, speed bumps ect.
The bollard is a good meter away from the edge of her driveway so it's not like he's parking right on the edge
I do agree that vans are harder to see around but surely that's just part of driving and owning a car?

OP posts:
WonderingWanda · 09/04/2024 19:32

I love how everyone assumes he absolutely is blocking her view from her drive. It is entirely possible that op's neighbour is just one of these people obsessed by what's parked outside their houses. Some people get a real b in their bonnet about work vans on residential streets. Sounds like she is being quite petty.

BeeCucumber · 09/04/2024 19:32

Your OH is being unreasonable if he is obstructing her view of the road.

Soapboxqueen · 09/04/2024 19:30

Firstly I'd say vans can often be harder to navigate around as they can be taller and often don't have windows so can't be seen through like cars can.

However, it isn't unreasonable for your dh to park in a free space but nor is it unreasonable for your neighbour to either.

She obviously finds it difficult to see around your dh's van. She asked to have it moved but it happened again.

So she's found another solution🤷🏻‍♂️

Whatevershallidowithmylife · 09/04/2024 19:26

Chances are that commercial vehicles aren’t meant to be parked in the street as well.

fieldsofbutterflies · 09/04/2024 19:25

If he's blocking her view so that she can't safely exit her drive, then he is being unreasonable. You don't have to be parking illegally to be parking badly.

I regularly have to pull out of a customers' driveway that's blocked because a van parks right up to the edge of the curb. It's so dangerous and I've had a few near misses as I just can't see the oncoming traffic at all.