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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that just because there is no drop-kerb in front of my house....

70 replies

nikki1978 · 13/08/2010 10:22

... that is doesn't give people free licence to park in front of my fucking drive!

Arrgggghhh it drives me mad! There is no drop-kerb as there is access to the hydrant for the emergency services where my drive meets the pavement. We did request a drop-kerb and the council said no. It is bad enough that our car has massive scraps under the bumper but the fact that people are so bloody stupid that even though it is clearly a driveway and there is a car on it they still park in front of it. It is not even a busy road chockablock with cars! There are about a million other places to park. I am going out soon and yet again will have to knock on doors to figure out whose car it is.

My neighbours friends mainly seem to be the culprit. She always says "Oh sorry they do not realise it is a driveway as there is no drop-kerb". I feel like hurting people badly.

AIBU? Would the lack of drop-kerb flummox you too?

OP posts:
WillbeanChariot · 13/08/2010 10:58

I think YANBU. I would not park in front of a drive dropped kerb or not.

upahill · 13/08/2010 10:59

So why don't you get permission from the council and have it converted to a drop down kerb?

willsywoo · 13/08/2010 11:00

Yeah,yabu,you don't own the road outside your house,i suppose you don't mind if your own friends park there... people turn their front gardens into parking spaces and then expect another free one outside...tough..pay the council to have your kerb dropped if it bothers you so much.

pooka · 13/08/2010 11:01

If there's no crossover I tend to think that whoever is parking on their front hardstanding is doing so without permission of the Council and is crossing the pavement illegally. So I wouldn't worry much about pissing them off.

scallopsrgreat · 13/08/2010 11:01

Legalities aside, surely it is just rude and inconsiderate to block someone in. I don't like parking in front of someone elses house where we live, let alone a hard standing with a car in place. So YANBU.

Same here Clumsymum!

gingernutlover · 13/08/2010 11:03

why dont you just pay £500 to have a dropped kerb, if it was me I would consider it money well spent?

I do agree though that it is plain inconsiderate to block someones car in on their drive/hardstanding when there is plenty of room to park elsewhere, dropped kerb or no dropped kerb!

pooka · 13/08/2010 11:04

But is it not rude and inconsiderate to do something that is an offence - i.e. drive over a pavement that hasn't been reinforced as part of the installation of a crossover?

I wouldn't go out of my way to park in front of a hardstanding, no. But if I was parking and it overhung the "access" then I wouldn't be overly concerned.

willsywoo · 13/08/2010 11:10

If there were somewhere else to park,i wouldn't block it just out of spite,however,parking is an issue and why should neighbours have to park in the next road if there is no other available space nearby...sorry, but as i said,you don't own the road outside your house

Tiredmumno1 · 13/08/2010 11:16

Agree with others op, sorry to say its illegal to cross the pathway.

i am a bit surprised they havent blocked your access.

FindingMyMojo · 13/08/2010 13:20

If there is no drop kerb I'd also think it was OK to park there.

Surely if you are allowed to access your driveway but the council won't give you a drop curve, they will paint a couple of yellow or red lines for you?

NorbertSmalls · 13/08/2010 13:45

Why dont you park on the road so others cannot

princesspuds · 13/08/2010 13:46

When I bought my house several years ago we had a driveway put in and paid for a dropped kerb, if we hadn't and had just driven over all the time, we would have been liable for any damage to the pavements and/or injuries that any members of the public sustained because of it as it wasn't reinforced.

TBH, I would just pay for a dropped kerb to be put in as other posters have said, it puts value on your home, also people aren't supposed to park in front of a dropped kerb it is easier to enforce

Original poster
nikki1978 · 13/08/2010 14:56

Sorry but there is tons of room to park! It is a big road and it not near a town centre or anything - there are rarely people parked here other than residents. I have lived in this house for 30 years and never encountered this problem before. It is not like I live on a road with tiny terraced houses and we have turned part of the garden into a driveway. The house is a large semi detached one, it was built with a garage and driveway just like every other house on this road. The reason only ours no longer has a drop kerb is no longer relevant according to the council. I cannot afford £500 at the moment - we are not very rich and can only afford to live here due to my parents generousity (very nice middle class area). I agree we need to do it but I don't think it is necessary for people to park in front of it when there is lots more parking (usually right in front of where they are actually parking!). If anyone else is bitter about it I really don't see why as they would never have had to pay for it (their dropped kerbs have all been there since I can remember).

Anyway legalities aside, and I admit IABU there I just think it is bad manners. If I had a rusty old crap head there maybe I could understand but I have a new Lexus so it is clearly not dumped there.

Clearly I am in the minority.

OP posts:
moominmarvellous · 13/08/2010 14:58

YANBU! We're in a similarish position where we rent a house with a front drive, but aren't keen on paying a large fee to drop the kerb on a house we don't own, likewise the landlord isn't keen to pay out for a drive he doesn't use!

We live beside a gymnastics club so every evening during term time, I return home to a blocked front drive as classes are held after school and at weekends. I know I have no say without the dropped kerb so when it happens I go in and ask if they can move while I get my car on, as the street is full of parents and they leave us with nowhere to park at all.

Kerb issue aside, our road is permit holders only, so people shouldn't be parked without a permit there anyway........oh well, hopefully we'll be abe to move soon and will think to check these things out beforehand!

fireblademum · 13/08/2010 14:59

i was under the impression that if you crossed the footway illegally (by not having a dropped kerb) to access your drive then it would give your insurance company a lovely big get out clause if anything happened to your car when it was parked on said drive, anyone out there know if this is true?
that said i would never park across such a drive. and im always paranoid that if i ever park inconsiderately the car might get vandalised 'accidentally' damaged by someone i have blocked in.

BonniePrinceBilly · 13/08/2010 15:01

Not that broke then, with the new Lexus? Hmm

HarderToKidnap · 13/08/2010 15:03

You (and your new Lexus) can't afford to drop the kerb so it's up to other people to ensure you can get in and out of your driveway?

The world just owes you a living, doesn't it?

moominmarvellous · 13/08/2010 15:03

I didn't know it was illegal to cross the pathway........I wonder how that's managed to slip through the net. I'd have thought the councils would have that first on their list of 'new reasons to fine people'.

Original poster
nikki1978 · 13/08/2010 15:04

When I say new I mean 7 years old and it was given to us by my FIL who is very well off and had just bought a new one (he wrote it off as part of DHs inheritance).

Put your judgey pants away please! Grin

OP posts:
moominmarvellous · 13/08/2010 15:07

She didnt say she couldn't afford not to drop it - the council said no to the request.

An important detail.

BonniePrinceBilly · 13/08/2010 15:07

No, she said they wanted 500 quid to do it and she couldn't afford it. Keep up with the important details.

moominmarvellous · 13/08/2010 15:12

So she did, I stand corrected.

HarderToKidnap · 13/08/2010 15:14

Actually, I withdraw my comment.

You live in a house provided by your parents. You drive a car provided by your in-laws. OF COURSE you feel a sense of entitlement. You have obviously both been a little spoiled in life. This is just an extension of that. So it's not your fault, you don't any better really.

MorningTownRide · 13/08/2010 15:15

Well if FIL is so generous (gives you house and car) get him to pay for it Grin

Superfly · 13/08/2010 15:16

If you don't want people to park across your drive then pay up and drop the curb.

People who park there won't see themselves as being a pain in the backside or bad mannered - they'll just see somewhere they can legally park. And while the curb is not dropped then they can.