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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

ExitPursuedByABear · 13/08/2010 15:16

Oh I love a good parking argument me. I would just like to say that a man complimented me on my parking abilities last night . Drop kerb or no drop kerb, is it not just bad manners to block someone's driveway - especially if there is plenty of other room to park? YANBU

NarkyPuffin · 13/08/2010 15:20

I thought people were being really harsh to you because it is rude to block someone's drive.

Then I had a quick look online. I checked 3 councils and all 3 say it's illegal to drive over the pavement without a drop curb or crossover.

I agree it's rude, but I'd keep my mouth shut until I could afford to change the pavement, because you're the one in the wrong legally.

Original poster

nikki1978 · 13/08/2010 15:25

Sorry hardertokinap but get f*cked. I asked for opinions on parking not people to make personal comments. Yes we were given a car and we are very grateful. We have not been given a house! We live here in my parents house. We pay rent and bills - they are generous as it is less than they could get if they went through an letting agent etc but they didn't want strangers living in their house and it would have sat empty.

Aren't people being rude on here today? All you need to say is no you are being unreasonable, get your kerb dropped.

Making personal comments like that is plain nasty.

OP posts:

HarderToKidnap · 13/08/2010 15:37

Well, if you aren't spoiled then stop behaving as if you are.

It's FINE to take the piss, imo. It's fine to cheekily push the boundaries and see what you can get away with (as long as not hurting anyone etc etc), as long as you know that you are taking the piss. It's when you start to think that taking the piss is your RIGHT, and that if other people act in such a way that stops you taking the piss that they are wrong, that you start to get a sense of entitlement, to become spoiled. And if it is the same person that keeps parking there, then she knows. She knows it's your driveway and for some reason it's pissing her off and she is parking there deliberately. Maybe she works for a different council somewhere and this is her department, or maybe she just paid loads of money to get her own kerb droped. Either way, she may have her little issues but she actually does have the right to park there and you don't have the right to have your hardstanding kept clear. So when you start to get annoyed with hjer then yup, I think that makes you spoiled.

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 13/08/2010 15:44

If there used to be a dropped kerb then why isn't there still? Sounds v.odd to me.

OP - if you are getting this wound up about it, then just pay the £500. Would FIL lend you the money?

Nattynar · 13/08/2010 16:28

YANBU - At my mothers house, you have to practically do a u-turn to get into the drive. And you always get someone parked on the other side of the road basically opposite the drive, that means you have to do some daft manoeuvres to get into the drive. Seems silly but it used to drive me nuts.

Some people just don't think. I got sick of some local contractor parking his van outside my house all day & then sitting eating lunch & having a good stare at me. No drive/kerb or anything. But easy to solve. Park my car outside. That soon stopped him. Maybe try that.

And I'm sorry that some people have been so rude to you.

OutOutLetItAllOut · 13/08/2010 16:29

yabu.
you dont have a drive.
you have a front garden.
having a dropped curb would make the area a drive.
what you are doing by driving on the pavement is illegal.

SingingBear · 13/08/2010 16:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MNTotoro · 13/08/2010 16:38

Interesting thread.

I would park in front of it, sorry.

I imagine you are damiging your car to the tune of approx £500 by scraping bumpers and pressuring the tires each time you go up the kerb. Suggest you save for a drop kerb - it would really put me off buying a property if it didnt have a proper driveway.

MNTotoro · 13/08/2010 16:39

damAging.

upahill · 13/08/2010 17:07

I know I have commented before nikki but tbh if I saw a parking space I would park there and I wouldn't necessarly be looking at theire drive/ hardstanding whatever. I would just be checking for yellow lines, being double parked, drop kerbs or any other restrictions or obsticles.

If there was a dropped kerb there I would give a good gap either side of it for a car to turn in or out. So on this occasion I think yabu. Although I know I would get a bee in my bonnett from time to time. I would stash some money way until I got the £500 and have it done.

Kaloki · 13/08/2010 18:00

Sorry OP, I'm with the others. No dropped kerb or yellow lines means it is ok to park there.

LittleMissHissyFit · 13/08/2010 19:26

OP, i don't think you are being U, it'd annoy me too.

Jesus the claws are out today... is it just cos it's friday? or is this group PMT?

I wouldn't park in front of a car parked in a drive.

hmc · 13/08/2010 19:35

I'm with you OP - if there is a driveway, irrespective of dropped kerb or not, it is common courtesy and good sense not to park there. Think perhaps you should save up for the £500 though - money well spent if it avoids the angst

hmc · 13/08/2010 19:37

No it is the usual snidey, 'can't get a fuck/ fed up with the children due to school holidays/ pissed off about my MIL and going to take it out on someone else to make myself feel better' crowd LittleMiss. Makes me want to give them a collective shake for being complete spanners!

IMoveTheStars · 13/08/2010 19:44

edam · 13/08/2010 19:50

I wouldn't park in front of a drive whether or not the kerb was dropped.

Maybe the rules about crossing the pavement were different when the house was originally built?

Hulababy · 13/08/2010 19:53

Regardless of dropped kerb I would never park in front of a parked car on a drive. That is just common sense. You don't block someone in

However, if a car wasn't here and there was no dropped kerb or linemarkings I may well park. There is nothing to indicate to me that I can't. Just because someone has a cleared garden wouldn't cry out to me that I can't park there.

You cannt prevent people parking in front of your "drive" if there are no markings and there is no drop kerb. You will have to save up the £500 if you want to make them stop.

marriednotdead · 13/08/2010 20:11

The house opposite mine has what the OP has. We are on a busy rat run road close to a train station so parking is diabolical, and as that is the 1st 'space' as you enter off the main road, people often park there.
I have stopped there to unload shopping before moving my car 200 yards to the nearest parking space but avoid parking there unless I'm desperate.
The previous tenant seemed to be rowing with people almost daily but they just pointed out their rights and the lack of markings/dropped kerb. The current occupiers don't seem to have a vehicle so it's peaceful at the moment.
YABU although I do see your viewpoint.

AlisonDubois · 13/08/2010 20:14

We have a driveway big enough for 2 large cars.
We also have a dropped kerb, but it doesn't stop people parking across our driveway or exactly opp, making it impossible to drive in, when car park is full next door.
Used to really piss me off. Solved it though. We don't use our drive anymore...we park on road... one on one side and one on the other. Problem solved!
It stops other people parking there and leaves our driveway empty for DC's to play footie on, great!

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