Insane parking behaviour - intentionally blocked in

@DotAndCarryOne2 Yeah, lets not worry about wheelchair users, people pushing prams.

Highway code rule 243.

Relying, not renting (thanks, autocorrect).

I agree. They must know that they don't actually have any more right to the space than anybody else, but they're renting on people being too scared to use a public facility because of the implied threat of what they might do their car.

A kind of vehicle equivalent of the old "do you want to give up your rightful ground to somebody else, or do you want to stay and fight and end up as the most righteous person in the graveyard?"

Its a nasty thing to do to someone, they are bullying you so that you don't park in that particular spot any longer.

It seems very unfair, though. The idea of guaranteeing you access to your drive is surely based on it being better for everybody for as many cars to be parked off the road as possible. It was never intended to effectively reserve you an exclusive space on the public road.

Just as, although you have permanent free access to drive over the pavement to access your property, that doesn't give you the right to park on or otherwise obstruct that pavement other than for a few seconds to drive over it.

I'd still be wary, as if you're permanently parking on the road, the council could make the argument that your drive isn't properly in use as a drive - one with free access to and from it - so therefore you no longer need guaranteed access, the dropped kerb can be removed and it just becomes another free-for-all space for everybody.

You are not allowed to park across a dropped kerb at all, plus it is always a good idea to leave some space between you and the car in front. The person who blocked you in covering a dropped kerb and trapping you in did not have the right to do so. If it happens again take photos/video on your phone so you have evidence.

Awful behaviour to block someone in like that.

However, I am mightily puzzled as to why she didn't park where you parked, thus keeping the space on the road outside the house HERS!

Nowt queer as folk all the same.

They may do, but they're simply wrong. What about all the other drivers who want to park there and get fed up of the person who happens to live adjacent hogging the space for so much of the time?!

You're not a 'random' - you're a public road user just like everybody else with a taxed, insured, roadworthy vehicle.

If their own private parking space is so important to them, they should have bought a house with a drive. You can't decide to save yourself money by not paying for something private and exclusive to you but then still expect to have it exclusively anyway.

Yep had to do this too, only then the man was watching me do it and suddenly moved their car (assume he thought I’d hit it 🙄)

I live on a terraced street so everyone is on the road. It’s also near a couple of small businesses and a school. Is it a bit irritating if I can’t park near my house? Yes. Would I do something deranged? No. And in this case I don’t even see how it’s irritating. The blocker in had drive space. The car wasn’t affecting her at all.

This is a good idea. I’d be mad enough to be petty. I’d park there again and call the police. And lean on the horn while I waited, except to stop and politely explain to any neighbours. Actually, have some paper for a note for neighbours, ‘the people at number x resent me using the road completely legally, they have parked me in and are refusing to answer the door. This is illegal and I’ve called the police to tow their car but while I wait I plan to lean on my horn so they are inconvenienced as well as me. I apologise for the noise for any innocent neighbors. I’m also sorry your neighbor is such a jerk and I hope they never use the local shops and services since they aren’t staffed with robots but with people who need to get there and park somewhere.

maybe the neighbours will tell them to stop fucking around.

A neighbour did something similar (but worse) some years ago, it escalated and she ended up being carted away in a police car!

Nobody pays road tax. That was binned off decades ago.

People are weird about parking outside their house OP. You could double down and nudge the bumpers next time or give in

This same thing happened to me, a teacher, parked near my school (which had no car park) My vehicle was a vintage VW Transporter with an excellent steering lock. Nobody came to move either of the vehicles blocking me in. No-one would answer the door, although I saw them peering out from behind the curtains, so I very carefully started to manoeuvre my way out of the space, one cm at a time - forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards. It was painful, but I saw them watching me and hoped they were sweating! Well, turns out it was all too much for them and they came out and moved the front car. I would down the window, leaned out and waved. "Thanks - sorry, I thought there was no-one home!" and drove off.

Absolutely this! Isn’t this what bumpers are for??

@Valeriekat@PrincessofWells@Mumsgirls
apologies this wasn’t intended.

Someone did that to me recently - like you @sadkittymum I was completely legally parked, I'd checked and I had a clear foot before the dropped kerb began. They got their car off the drive and parked it across their own dropped kerb right up to my bumper, then watched through the curtains as I spent 20 minutes doing a 128 point manoeuvre to get out again. Twats. I wish I'd had the nerve to shunt their car but I knew they were watching.

I'm pretty sure there's nothing wrong with my memory either but it never occurred to me when I was in my mid-20s, doing a professional job similar to the OP, to consider myself "only" such and such an age.
You and the OP did/do.
Fair enough.
Tbh, this strikes me as more the couple being more petty than "belligerent". It sounds like the woman spoke one sentence and the man didn't say anything.
Anyway, as I said previously, the OP obviously hasn't done anything wrong and the couple behaved badly.

Eta: Thought I'd quoted a post 🤦🏻‍♀️
This was a reply to @5foot5 at 10:16.

You have my sympathy OP. There’s a man who lives near MIL and he does everything to stop people parking outside his house. He uses the same tactic as the woman who blocked you, or sometimes swings his big wrought iron gate out onto the pavement to create an obstacle, with his own car parked up close to it and an empty driveway. Weird behaviour.

To the people who think the police shouldn’t be bothered with this, of course they should. Even the fact that a dispute like this can potentially escalate into damage or violence is reason enough. There are parking issues at our local primary school (pretty typical inconsiderate parents parking across driveways, double parking etc) and the police are out regularly trying to sort it. It may not be the most important job they do, but it does fall under their remit.

People are so petty.

😂😂 Possibly just 'southern European' - I've seen it in Italy too 😂😂

lol - I’d park close enough to the dropped kerb so you can’t be blocked in if they’re being awkward about the parking outside their house. I do loathe this type of entitlement, I’d bet they park outside peoples houses when they go to destinations … dollars to donuts!

I thought that was the Greek method 😂

I may be in my 60s now and rarely intimidated by anyone, but my memory is not so short that I can't acknowledge that, at the OPs age, I too would probably have been a bit daunted about getting in to a confrontation with someone my parents' age, especially if they were obviously belligerent.

You certainly did nothing wrong and they were acting very badly.
I don't understand the relevance of the bit about you being "only" 25 and them being "a middle aged couple", apart from the fact there were two of them and just one of you which is, of course, more intimidating.