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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to get really annoyed with cars that park on the pavement?

108 replies

IsItEvilLegal · 04/12/2013 21:15

They are all over the place around here. It REALLY bugs me.

I don't even know if it's legal, but it's public pavements. It's not always even infront of houses, so I can't see the reasoning.

Am I the only one this really gets on the wick of?

OP posts:
missingmumxox · 05/12/2013 00:38

oh things, what is yplac? because we keep getting letters from the school about parents parking but the only people I can see who park like arses are the taxi drivers i took a whole load of pics a week friday and got some classics! taxi, in front of sign saying fire access in front of flats, 2 taxis on a bus stop/double yellows, 5 taxis on school zigzags... that said I imagine they are mostly under contract to the LAA so I should possible forward to them, only one driver saw me, I wasn't even being covert, I was very open and even leaned into one and asked if he could move as he was blocking me in, (he also got the jackpot on arsewhole parking, blocked me in, double yellow and bus stop) he was very anglosaxon!
the chap who saw me was very agressive as I drove off, banging on my car door as I drove away... then he stopped as he asked "did you take a picture of my taxi?" " yes I did" and drove off, parking was considerate... for the whole of monday morning by them, unfortunatly not since!!!

for the record I don't normally park by the school but about 1/4 mile away and walk up but drive by the school on my way to my prefered place, but if there is a proper place to park then I do, only happens about once a week.

TreaterAnita · 05/12/2013 00:38

Oh yes, this really winds me up too. Near where we used to live there is a long, 40 mile an hour road with a narrow pavement on one side and nothing on the other which connects 2 'villages' (really suburbs of 2 different towns). At the top of the road there is a massive car park for an entertainment complex which is never full and has no parking restrictions. About 100 yards further down there are some football pitches with no actual parking, just access from the main road. The road is too narrow to park, so you'd think that the people using the pitches would park in the complex and walk the 100 yards. But do they? No, of course not. Instead they park mostly on the pavement, which means that if you have a pram or are in a wheelchair you have to come off the pavement and step into a busy road to get past them. I've literally had to breathe in to get past in the pavement when I didn't have a pram. Selfish twats.

ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight · 05/12/2013 00:59

Yplac on twitter is 'you park like a cunt' lol

You have no idea how many times the iPad just changed that word until I got the one I wanted hehe

NiceTabard · 05/12/2013 01:10

Depends surely like Bohemian says.

We have roads around here with parking bays marked out 2 on 2 off, or all on the pavement. We also have some very narrow roads and wide pavements with no restrictions marked where school run people park as far up on road as poss and most cars can pass just a bit of a "who goes first" if it's a coach or lorry or something.

What annoys me is the times I have seen people parked entirely on the pavement in the middle of the high street outside a shop I mean away from the road and across the pavement and stop and when people have parked right in the middle of our local green space ie they have driven effectively in the middle of a park, got out and gone for a meal.

FFS.

I call the council cos I am attaining the age of old gittishness.
Also the parking enforcement round here obviously take bribes but that is a different thread.

thepobblewhohasnotoes · 05/12/2013 01:12

Yesterday DS, DD and I went into the public toilets near our local shops. When we were leaving I let DS (aged 5) go ahead of me onto the pavement. He was about 2 metres ahead of me. As he ran out, a car mounted the pavement to park and very nearly hit him. I was stunned, grabbed DS and stood staring at the car. They sat there a few seconds then drove off, no doubt they knew they were in the wrong and didn't fancy hearing what I was going to say had they got out.

Just so, so dangerous. I had no idea cars parked there. On the pavement I thought we're safe from cars and DS can have a bit of freedom to run / skip / whatever. I guess that's wrong Sad

MiaowTheCat · 05/12/2013 08:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Joysmum · 05/12/2013 08:52

It's normal where I live. The town was built before cars became so common and so the roads aren't wide enough and their aren't as many pedestrians as cars.

However, thought needs to be taken, leaving enough space for pedestrians, not parking on or near to dropped cubs and junctions. That's the real problem.

Bumblequeen · 05/12/2013 08:57

We have to park two wheels on the pavement as our road is too narrow to accommodate cars on both sides. We leave enough room for buggies.

mistlethrush · 05/12/2013 09:05

When I had a buggy I dreamed of Bodica - style flap out extensions for the hand grip that spiraled around as you walked and could just conveniently catch cars that had been inconsiderately parked on the pavement.

hedgehogy · 05/12/2013 09:12

This really annoys me. My pram isn't even large and I still can't get through on the footpath sometimes. There is one car in particular around here that is always blocking the footpath, so I have to walk around on the road with my baby (which is dangerous as it's a bendy road). There are other places to park, but they clearly only want to park right outside their house. And their hedge is unkempt which doesn't help. I am shy but I have been so tempted to knock on their door or post a note through. I have the same thoughts as hopalong. I hadn't thought of reporting it, I might do that.

candycoatedwaterdrops · 05/12/2013 09:14

In most cases, parking even with 2 wheels on the pavements will get you a parking ticket. I learned the hard way.

silverten · 05/12/2013 09:14

Never mind rules of thumb or blaming old street layouts- it is illegal to drive on the pavement, and to obstruct it, full stop.

You simply aren't allowed to do it. I guess the reason most people think it's ok is because the police don't really bother enforcing it much.

Whilst yplac is amusing, if you want people to stop doing it, I find that quite a good way to get enforcement is to take a photo and email it to your council via FixMyStreet. You can identify the location in your report and if your photo shows the reg no then that is ready made evidence for the fuzz.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 05/12/2013 10:56

No, it's not, silver, people are talking about marked bays that extend onto the pavement.

It is illegal in any other circumstance, but those are legal.

And OP YANBU.

harticus · 05/12/2013 11:06

Never mind rules of thumb or blaming old street layouts- it is illegal to drive on the pavement, and to obstruct it, full stop

And it is illegal to block the road.

So what do you suggest? Ban all cars?

Some very old cities like Norwich and Winchester and even in London - have incredibly narrow streets full of terraced houses.
The idea that everyone in the tiny terraces (that make up the bulk of the housing stock) can just fuck off elsewhere and park is ridiculous because there isn't anywhere else to park.

My old street was a main rat run for ambulances and police.
Sorry but unfettered access for emergency vehicles will always beat buggy pushing in the priority stakes.

alemci · 05/12/2013 11:09

yes it is selfish to do this. in some places there are white lines marked so that cars can as it is a narrow road but not otherwise.

silverten · 05/12/2013 14:20

This is a technical thing. If a pavement has marked bays then those bays technically aren't pavements. The decision to redesign ate them will have been taken with pedestrian access in mind.

And as far as medieval street layouts go, the rules are still the same. Ie, the cars are technically not meant to be left there (loading/unloading aside).

No point getting arsey with me about it, it's not up to me- it's the law.

And yes- since you asked- if I lived in such a house (in fact I own and rent out one which has severely restricted access) then yes- my car is moved elsewhere when I need to actually park it. And I walk back to my house having parked it out of everybody's way.

DameDeepRedBetty · 05/12/2013 14:31

I once found a warden actually writing a ticket out as I arrived. I had two wheels slightly on the kerb, just like everyone else on that street, as otherwise you will lose your wing mirrors even if you've folded them in. I asked what on earth the ticket was for, he said it was obstruction, what if a pushchair or wheelchair needed to get along the pavement?

So I hooked the twin's spare double buggy out of my boot and demonstrated that there was plenty of room for a pushchair to pass, by pushing it past him standing on the pavement by my car!

He gave in and tore it up Smile.

Flibbertyjibbet · 05/12/2013 14:32

I was shouted at in the school playground by a mother, because my dp had banged on the back of her car that morning and she was angry about it.
She had apparently told her husband and he was very angry at my dp too!

The reason? He'd been walking along ON THE PAVEMENT with our two children then aged 5 and 7 who were also ON THE PAVEMENT right outside the school gates, and she had reversed onto the pavement to park! Right in ds2's path.

So obviously DP banged on the back of her car to alert her to the fact that she was about to hit a child if she carried on! AND she was reversing onto the bloody zig zag markings.

When I told her that he would have been banging on her car to tell her a child was in her way, she said it was DP's fault if the child was 'running about on the pavement, he should have been holding her hand' fgs! Everyone else was gobsmacked at her attitude!

btw we live in an area of predominantly very small terraced houses. Even with 1 car each house the streets would be overfilled if everyone parked in the road - because there are houses both sides but most of the roads are too narrow for double parking. Our street is only houses one side but very narrow, not even enough for single side parking in the road if the neighbours are to get past.

So most people park half on the pavement, its just what everyone does round here. If they didn't then there is nowhere else to 'park somewhere else and walk', because you'd just be parking in someone elses street where they all park half on the pavement. Mostly though there is space for at least a double buggy to get past.

Dwerf · 05/12/2013 14:34

My daughter had this. After some asking around, she discovered the culprits were a solicitors firm. She asked them politely to park elsewhere and they were a little snotty with her. So she took numberplates and went to the police. Then she went back and told the solicitors what the police had said. Fines were mentioned I think. They don't park there any more.
Grumpy young mother with double buggy: one
Badly parked legal staff: nil. Grin

ouryve · 05/12/2013 14:46

It really bugs me, especially now I have DS2 back in his giant buggy. I often fold wing mirrors in when lazy gits are parked up on the pavement, as near to school as they can get. Sometimes when there's someone in the car. I also rant, loudly.

DS1 has ASD, as well as DS2 and has nearly been clipped by people driving along the pavement or using it to turn round a few times. As far as he's concerned, road safety rules don't need to apply on pavements because cars don't drive on them, so he'll keep walking straight at a moving car.

Damnautocorrect · 05/12/2013 14:52

My old neighbour practically parked so far on the pavement you had to turn sideways to walk passed. How his car never got keyed I've no idea. There was no hope of a buggy or wheelchair getting through.
He didn't want to park on his drive?!?!?

Beastofburden · 05/12/2013 14:58

It's often nothing to do with how wide the road is. People think that if they put their wheels up on the pavement, the double yellow lines on the road somehow don't count.

Especially if they have a van.

Kasterborous · 05/12/2013 14:59

YANBU at all. It really annoys me too especially when I can't get past with my pushchair I wish it had spikes that came out of the wheels. Though I would never damage a car. Though I did once push the pushchair over someone's flower bed and front lawn when they had completely blocked the pavement with their car. Despite having plenty of room to park on the road.

JimmyCorkhill · 05/12/2013 16:38

The worst one by me is outside softplay! There is a designated car park further on but you have to walk for 30 seconds to get back to the softplay building Shock. So you get idiots parked on the pavement and I have to walk my toddler and baby out into the road to get past. So selfish.

GimmeDaBoobehz · 05/12/2013 19:33

I know it's ridiculous.

Not all of them I have seen are near houses with a car park space.

Some I have even seen mounted on the pavement when there has been room in their drive, it really irks me.

I'd love to do a bit of damage to the paint work, I really would. But I'm too nice don't want a fine.