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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to think cars don't need to be parked on the pavement

54 replies

KaraJS · 07/07/2011 11:01

im sick of having to take my pushchair onto the road as cars are parked so far on to the pavement I can't get past, I've found the worst offenders to be those doing the school run

OP posts:

MassagesDeclinedByNetmums · 07/07/2011 11:02

3 school run in one day?

I agree though. Pain in the arse.

squeakytoy · 07/07/2011 11:04

It is a parking offence and you can get a ticket for it.

I have had two tickets recently for parking in front of my own house. I hasten to add you could drive a car through the bloody space, as we have very wide pavements, and a very narrow road. If there are cars parked on both sides of the road the risk of getting your car scraped is almost guaranteed, and when other cars are parked opposite it is practically impossible due to the tree outside our house, to get the car onto our drive.

fernier · 07/07/2011 11:06

Yanbu a few years ago a woman pulled up very quickly to park on the pavement and hit my daughter in her pram (we were walking on the pavement). She drove off I reported her but nothing came of it, pram had a dent but daughter was fine luckily at 8 weeks old she was in the carseat oart and that offered her a teeny bit of protection.

I get a little crazy when I see people on pavements even BIL knows not to pull onto pavements with me around.

fernier · 07/07/2011 11:08

You can report people if they park on the pavements all the time (I,e on y road) to the council as well, they can send traffic wardens around (whistles innocently)

Gemjar · 07/07/2011 11:08

I HATE this. I don't have school age kids yet but where I live there is a very narrow road with houses right on to the street and people think that it is ok to park right on the pavement all the time despite the fact that there are side streets every few yards that they could easily park down, but that would be far too considerate of others and so getting a buggy past can sometimes be a nightmare just because they couldn't be bothered walking the few extra yards to their front door.

The pavement is not a car park, it is for pedestrians YADNBU

Bramshott · 07/07/2011 11:09

YANBU. Although IME the worst offenders are builders vans . . .

MadYoungCatLady · 07/07/2011 11:12

As massages said, this is an offence. Pavements are for pedestrians. It really, really irritates me - my mum can only go out on a mobility scooter due to multiple disabilities. If there is a car on the pavement, she is fucked!

Get the registration and call the council OP.

januaryjojo · 07/07/2011 11:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LineRunner · 07/07/2011 11:16

This really fucking annoys me.

The drivers are trying not to block the road - so they block the pavement instead. Genius.

They also crack paving stones that then have to be replaced.

Thick bastards.

LineRunner · 07/07/2011 11:17

Sorry january cross post. I wasn't trying to insult you in particular.

Just a horrible co-incidence.

januaryjojo · 07/07/2011 11:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AgentZigzag · 07/07/2011 11:24

This really fucks me off too, especially if they're next to a wall and you can't get past.

Obviously the car drivers think they're far more important than us plebby pedestrians.

GrimmaTheNome · 07/07/2011 11:28

There may be cases where pragmatically it makes sense to put your wheels on the pavement (wide pavement, narrow road scenario).

What is totally unacceptable is to park such that you are blocking the pavement to the extent that buggies, wheelchairs, walking frames etc can't pass. Its the most vulnerable who are put at risk.

Our village has narrow pavements to start with, yet idiots still park partially on them. No idea why, parked properly there's room for a lorry to pass, parked improperly there's still only room for one vehicle to pass so it makes no sense whatever. Walking my little dog around one such car, it abruptly started off without looking to the side and nearly had us. (he did look shocked and apologise when I yelled at him)

Original poster

KaraJS · 07/07/2011 11:29

Sometimes it can be 3 car lengths of walking on the road before I can get back on the pavement, it's pretty dangerous when there are cars whizzing up and down the road dropping kids off

OP posts:

FantasticDay · 07/07/2011 11:32

It depends. It's advisable to on bin day in our terraced street or the bin lorry literarrly can't get down the road (and has scratched up a fair few cars in the street in its attempts to do so). I park on the road the rest of the time but I do get a fair few knocks from the Tesco delivery van etc, asking me to move it onto the pavement so they can get down....

MrsBuntyisRatherGrumpy · 07/07/2011 11:33

Obviously I would never carry it through, but it is the one time I have thoughts of vandalism! YANBU.

GrimmaTheNome · 07/07/2011 11:36

No - but flipping an obstructive wing mirror is something I feel I should do (instead of crabwising past)

fanjobanjowanjo · 07/07/2011 11:38

Depends on the road really. It can be a nightmare as a driver in the roads near me if people don't put their wheels on the pavement...too many cars, not enough drives...the pavement is double wide anyway. Some of them seem to stop in the middle of their side of the road and leave it there, usually doubled parked with someone else.

I can understand it being an issue when the pavement isn't wide enough.

youngwomanwholivesinashoe · 07/07/2011 11:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CurlyBoy · 07/07/2011 11:55

This is one of my pet peeves, second only to parking on double yellows! When I go by I tend to either adjust the side mirror to a jaunty angle or turn it so it is against the side of the car. This way the owner knows someone messed with their car in a totally harmless way but may do worse next time!

StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 07/07/2011 12:19

When I was a baby, my dad knew the sergeant at the local village police station, and was told this story. The pavements in this village were narrow, and all too often lorries would park up onto the pavement, leaving not enough space for prams to go past, so they had to go out onto the road, as the OP does.

One day a lorry driver came into the police station to complain that he'd been given a real ear-bashing by a woman with a pram. As he was ranting at the desk sergeant, the woman walked past, so he pointed to her and said, "That's the mouthy bitch over there!!" - and the sergeant looked over and replied, "Oh - you mean my wife!" The lorry driver left.

Yama · 07/07/2011 12:25

I have given a few lectures in my time to car and van drivers who do this. I ask them how people with buggies or in wheelchairs are meant to use the pavement.

Every single time the person has apologised. Obviously I can only do this if the driver is around.

Smellslikecatpee · 07/07/2011 12:31

My little sister spend nearly 3 months in hospital at the age of 7 months due to some tosser doing this. Mum had to walk in the road car came around the corner and clipped the side of the pram. Thankfully it was a big old Sliver Cross one built like a tank, this was nearly 25 years ago and the pram was 20+ years old then.

Anyway it hit the pram, one of the reins broke and sis was flung out of the pram and bashed the side of the pram.
Broke her leg, she was in traction for 3 months.

As you can imagine Mum was in bits the car driver was near suicidal, it really wasn?t his fault, but all of this was because some tosser thought that it was ok to (a) park on a corner and (b) park on the pavement.

I report them all, and now thanks to modern tech I also take a photo on my phone.

DaisyDaresYOU · 07/07/2011 12:34

My ds told a man off for parking on a pavement saying it's naughty and no one can get past.teehee he was 4 at the time and the man apologized to him and said he would move it

Ormirian · 07/07/2011 12:39

Actually I think there should be far-ranging amendments to the law with regard to parking in towns. Now that I have a drive and garages I no longer need to park on the street so I beleive all roads should have double-yellow lines on them and parknig infringment should be punishable by confiscation of the car.

BTW I am only partly joking. I have noticed over the last few years the number of roads that you struggle to drive down because of the number of parked cars present, and equally how many people park on pavements. I often wish I had a bulldozer or mebbe a tank - but I am getting old and I have a bad back so i am allowed to be cranky!

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