Note on car : what happens now?

[mrlistersgelfbride]

I work for a university, as is common there are significant problems with parking. When I can't get a space onsite, I usually park outside SILs house which is 20 minutes walk away. However I found a side street 5 minutes closer today.
I came back today (short day) to find this note on my car.

No phone number and no one around, didn't fancy knocking on doors.
I wasn't parked on double yellows, in a disabled bay or blocked anyone in. I was admittedly quite a way on the pavement. Obviously will not park there again and will go to SILs from now on.

What's the worst that can happen here? Parking fine? Thanks.

Yeah it is a dickish thing to do. Loads of people do it round here and when you're jogging it's annoying enough to have to run round onto the road so god knows how people with wheelchairs and prams feel

So you are an inconsiderate wanker.

Neither the council or police will give any shits. However please park somewhere that does not require needing to park on the kerb.

Just to clarify the point about illegality - it is illegal, but that means only the police have the power to enforce, council can’t do anything and police will never come out as they’re too overstretched.

And to add another point - ignoring the wheelchair/buggy point (which is of course the priority), if you have a drive it’s a fucking nightmare to get off it when people are parked up to your drop kerb and then there’s someone half mounted on the opposite side. Took me about 10 ‘3’ point turns to get off my drive today.

But I appreciate that the OP has been contrite and won’t do it again. We change the world one driver at a time!

My understanding is that parking on pavements can get you a ticket in some local authorities but not in others (ours is currently looking at making it a parking offence). So it probably depends where you are (and if they actually did report you).

No it isn’t. Why do people make statements like this when a 2 second google would show you you’re talking rubbish.

don't be silly

It is illegal where we live. I love phoning up the traffic enforcement people to deal with selfish parkers.

Illegally obstructing a pavement is a police issue, not a local authority one.

Causing an obstruction is illegal. It's a traffic offence

I'm not even sure whether you could get a fine because it wasn't a warden that saw your car. I'd forget about it. You know not to do it again, so there is no further action to be taken.

DH got a fine for parking half on the pavement so it is a parking violation. Someone took a picture snd sent it to local council.

She isn't an inconsiderate wanker, she's a normal person who made a mistake and didn't know the rules. She was trying to park considerately so that she didn't obstruct the road and she clearly did not realise that there were some pavement users needing more space than she had left. There is no need to call her an inconsiderate wanker, she has learned from the info people posted and she won't be doing it again.

I'm curious where you live that makes you think this could even happen.

That depends where you live, it's not the case everywhere.

You wouldn’t deliberately block the pavement with your dustbins so why would you block it with your car? It’s common sense.

Can someone please tell the bin men that? Residents leave them so they don't block the pavement, the bin men dump them anywhere so they are there all day!

It's a traffic offence so technically illegal but not really enforced.

From 11th December local authorities is Scotland will be able to enforce this with £100 fines being issued - there's a few streets round here that could make the council a fortune if they were so inclined!

In your case OP if it had been me I wouldn't have left a note I would have just taken pics of the car & your uni parking permit then emailed them to the uni.

Parking safely & considerately for other road users & pedestrians is a basic requirement & while you may be contrite now the fact that you didn't realise/know this before you parked is worrying - surely all drivers are a pedestrian at some point so not like you can claim not to know it's a pain in the arse at best, dangerous at worst to park like that.

I live in the north west of England. Around 6 months ago whilst pushing my Mum in her wheelchair we came across a van that was parked over the pavement, meaning we had to go onto the carriageway itself to get around it. The van was still there when we were walking back an hour or so later so I contacted the police on 101. An hour or so later there was a FPN stuck to the windscreen. Since then I have seen the van parked far more considerately.

OP, thank you for understanding. 😊

It could happen where I live in west Yorkshire.
A group of people with disabilities have formed an action group who have been given a phone number to ring by the chief constable for when they come across vehicles causing them an obstruction on the pavements.
They ring the number, give details and reg no.of the vehicle, a picture is sent if necessary. If they cannot contact the owner of the vehicle to move it, they will remove it themselves.
The initiative is still in it's early days, but it seems to be getting good results so far.

That’s a very good initiative @Flopsythebunny

Pedestrians' access to the pavement is an absolute. It is not something that just gets conveniently binned in order to keep the road unobstructed.

If it's not possible to park on a street without blocking the pavement, then that means that the street is not eligible for parking on. A driver in this situation needs to go and park their car somewhere else and walk to their destination from there.

I live in a country where streetside parking is mostly banned, so I have zero sympathy to drivers in these situations. Find a car park of some kind, pay for your right to park, and walk to your destination from there.