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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Neighbours, driveways and stupid police.

257 replies

montysma1 · 09/09/2012 21:01

My driveway entrance is double width, leading into my largely monoblocked driveway, which extends to the full width of my house. The entrance and the driveway are accessed over the pavement which has a lowered kerb.

I am plagued by cars doing 3 point turns, either mounting the pavement (best case ) or more commonly, crossing the pavement and driving squarely right into my monoblocked garden as part of their turn. Its annoying when randopm cars do it.

More annoyingly, a woman who comes daily to a house 3 down from ours (I think she might be the granny and might be child caring), uses our driveways habitually for all her turns, and I mean, all 4 wheels in my garden, (head lights beaming into our living room if its dark). Tonight i actually had to sit in the road way waiting for her to reverse out ouf my drive before I could get in to park on it! She actaully drices right past the driveway of the house she is going into (as it is narrow), manouvers in my garden and drives back down the street to park at the house she is going into!

Phoned the police tonight who say this is neither a criminal or civil offence. They are sending a community officer tomorrow to assuage my ranting, although, I did point out thats its not me who is doing it, so why not visit her?

AIBU to phone thenm back and point out that they are talking crap and that the law seems to state "that it is an offence to drive a vehicle over a pavement unless to gain access to private property" As she is not gaining access to my property, nor has she permission to , then surely it is an offence to mount the pavemnt at my house let alone drive right over it onto my property.

My children play in the garden, and know nopt to even so much as oput a toe out onto the pavement. but they cant even be safe in their own garden as according to the police, its perfectly fine for random cars to swing in at speed, reverse and leave again. they said i should phone back if a car hits one of them!

OP posts:
deakymom · 14/09/2012 17:12

put a chain on and she will only sue you for damage to her car when she pulls in again get some bollard thingys and make sure they are reflective

geegee888 · 14/09/2012 17:27

You could have a lot of fun with this one OP. I once reversed into an old rusty wheelbarrow in my PIL's garden. What a mess it made of my bumper. Things like plant pots equally so. All things that could be reasonably found in a garden that wouldn't possibly allow someone to sue for damages caused by them, but would enable you to claim the costs off them. Ditto an old bicycle or two lying around, she's not to know they are old or didn't have a child attached. Fancy a new lawnmower - leave it out for her to reverse into!

She will be doing it because she can't reverse and has devised a way of doing so with least trouble for herself. Make it more trouble for her and she will stop. Act dumb.

btw monobloc driveways are a little bit horrid!

PigletJohn · 14/09/2012 17:45

I don't think anyone can object to a chain across a driveway, or complain if they stupidly drive into it.

If you wanted to, you could hang a sign on it, saying "Private Driveway"

BlueberryHill · 14/09/2012 17:50

Deakymum, On what basis would she be able to sue you? Negligence? Occupiers Liability?

montysma1 · 14/09/2012 18:24

Parking on the road across my driveway is a great way of thwarting her and I do it a lot of the time . It also stops her from mounting the pavemment. It just really grates on me that I have to park on the road when I have a private drive. And also, I hate the thought that she can get access when have to move the car to go out in it! I'm getting a thing about it!Maybe I should buy the biggest longest old estate car i can find and just let in sit there permanently.
Will be doing a chain, all the suggestions here would work, but it s just all so annoying. I dont want to open and close a gate or a chain, when i cocme and go, have never had to before because none of the neighbours have ever thought to drive across my garden just as i have never done it to them.
Especially when her relatives in the house she visits can leave their drive way non booby trapped and gateless,and their cars dogs and children unaccosted, safe in the knowlege that some nutter isnt going to appear for a daily hurl round their property.

GeeGee, Monoblocking isnt my favbourite thing. It wasnt me who laid it, it was the previous owwner. They must have owwnerd A LOT OF CARS! It isnt even low maintainance, gets weedy in the cracks, gets mossy in shady bits and stains a bit dark and grimy over time. I would much rather mow a lawn. I like mowing laws! But its been done so extensively that it would cost quite a lot to howk up and reinstate the garden. The house is a "project" , leaky roof and leaky windows are on a long list of things which will need money spent on them before i set about the mono block.

OP posts:
Jux · 14/09/2012 18:43

Can you not lay turf over it? The roots would reach through the cracks where currently the weeds grow.

I was wondering about two sweeping curves of pots or rocks from the pavement to the house. You can have the centre of the curves as far apart as you need them to get your own cars through, but if she has to negotiate it in order to turn her car it probably won't be worth her while.

Best way of describing what I mean is using parentheses:

House
end

)(

Pavement
end

There! Now it's clear as mud (which is another option; fill the front with mud leaving just enough hard standing for your own cars. When she tries to turn, a) she'll get stuck; b) she'll get filthy trying to get unstuck; and c) her car will get filthy.

Jux · 14/09/2012 18:44

I can see I'm getting a little, er, carried away Grin

januaryjojo · 14/09/2012 18:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

montysma1 · 14/09/2012 19:11

Liking the idea that i could maybe just put turf over it and it would grow! Would it really?

We park in all manner of devious orientations but have to be careful not to jam ourselves in or make it so tight that we scrape ourselves on the gate posts or each other. Husband actually has managed to scrape himself along the wall, and of course blaims me for mad parking and not her! He isnt so bother as me as I work from home so get to see her doing it more than he does, so I tend to get more enraged!

Our parking is like a high stakes chess game, we devise strategies and car placements to keep her out, she tries cunning counter moves to get in!

OP posts:
IwishIwasmoreorganised · 14/09/2012 19:14

I don't think grass would get it's roots in between the cracks before it died.

You can get fake grass though which looks the part, school, have got some!

UsedToBeAContender · 15/09/2012 10:18

Maybe you could just get your DH to take a pick axe to a small portion of it and turf that just for starters? Plus obviously while the work was going on you could leave various tools lying in the way of the driveway...

Grin at your high stakes chess game!

Japple · 15/09/2012 13:20

Our Large,extra-long Driveway was a PitStop for all Reckless Dimwits.My Hubby
finally got PO'd with all of the Black Tire marks,Oil drips and the Ruination of
The side of his beautiful lawn,so...at Dusk, he sets out a Large Board that is
Completely Loaded with Nails-Face up.He places it in the Path of all of these
inconsiderate Monkeys...The Word must have gotten Out, because the Traffic
Is starting to Dwindle down just lately.

PigletJohn · 15/09/2012 13:28

I think he could get into trouble for that if someone suffered injury or damage to property.

theodorakis · 15/09/2012 15:39

My Saluki pisses on every car tyre, carefully and fastidiously covers each one in turn. He never misses. You can borrow him if you like.

PigletJohn · 15/09/2012 18:12

Is Saluki your foreign boyfriend?

theodorakis · 15/09/2012 18:54

No just a manky dog. For an extra charge I may be able to arrange a pissing boyfriend.

Gentleness · 15/09/2012 18:54

Here is a plan. It will need at least 2 friends that drive and are quite good at acting.

First, ascertain a rough time of evening, preferably Friday, when cheeky woman is likely to offend. Get friends to each pack a few suitcases and boxes in their cars and park ready and waiting about 30 seconds from your house or on her route to you.

When she is on the move, get phoning so friend 1 can pull into the drive just after her, park blocking her in and jump out, all friendly and excited. Friend 1 should engage her in conversation: hi nice to meet you, looking forward to this wkend party, how did you meet op, can you bang on the door while I start unloading, what's your name etc etc. Bubbly enough to allow her not a second to speak until the suitcases are being unloaded and also placed in her way. At this point she may ask for the car to be moved or refuse to bang on the door or even admit to not knowing op at all. About 2 mins will have passed.

At this point, friend 2 will swing onto the drive or across it and likewise babble on, unpack suitcases, greet friend 1 and head to door, giving no chance for anyone to get a word in. At which moment op will answer the door to friend 2 and 1, greet them enthusiastically and, under the assumption that cheeky woman is their companion, usher them all in as the food is ready, what perfect timing!

On cheeky woman eventually getting a word in and the terrible truth tumbling out, friend 1 can be suitably sympathetic about how scary reversing can be and suggest other ways without going into your property and friend 2 can be shocked and appalled and raise sensible objections, including the legality of such intrusions.

And eventually they can move their cars for her, by which time you should at least know her name and why she thinks it's ok, and she may even feel mortified at all the fuss and waiting and making your starter go cold....

PigletJohn · 15/09/2012 22:10

I think they will have had a few drinks, and regretfully decline to get in their cars.

tryingtofoster · 16/09/2012 02:17

one of those life like dolls left in an old pushchair and put in a stratiegic position would give her the fright of her life when she ran it over.

that would disuade her nicely Grin

bogeyface · 16/09/2012 02:26

You could do all of the suggested things, or you could just get over it.

Nobody died.

montysma1 · 16/09/2012 09:32

Yes sorry about that that.

I 'll not post again till somebody it killed. Shouldnt be long now.

OP posts:
Japple · 16/09/2012 16:13

...Someone Did...But we hit him with a "Trespass" on Privately owned property-
Plus "Damages"... And he is $ 2,500 dollars Poorer.When he said that he would
Run the Family Cat over...we got him on "Malicious Intent...etc". We used our
Ipad to snap a picture of him and his car.We are currently planning our Christmas vacation (Courtesy of our "Malicious Monkey".

SauvignonBlanche · 16/09/2012 17:11

Is she still at it OP?

TwoIfBySea · 16/09/2012 17:55

montysma1 although not a drive way our front garden was completely paved over until I took a spade, waggled it between two of the paving slabs and managed to prise it up. I took up enough for a wide border along the fence and up to the house wall - it was fairly easy to do, I'm in no way an expert or even fit.

I took up the slabs (some of which made a new path in the garden, some were stacked with planters on top, look really nice), cut the plastic thing with the edge of the spade and then just dug the earth over (there was quite a bit of sand, some I removed to use with the new path some I, um, ignored), adding compost for the flowers.

It looks a lot better, maybe, depending on how your slabs are laid out you could investigate beneath one to see what it would take to lift them yourself. And in the meantime stacked up they could make a very effective stupid-cow-driver blockade!

quoteunquote · 16/09/2012 19:13

autobollard.com/

www.parkingfacilities.co.uk/PF7000-Auto-Bollards.C171257.shop?OCT_LEVEL=2

www.amcsecurity.com/BOLLARDS/bollards.html

www.macs-bollards.com/

any of these will solve your problem, we often instal these for clients,usually for added security they work very well.