To think that a public road is just that (yep - it's another parking one)

[CuppaTeaAndAJammieDodger]

I live on a main road with no parking, there is a large car park next door to us (the council offices) which you're allowed to use at weekends and on bank holidays (which I indeed use at these times) the only other place to park within about a 15 minute walk (if you're lucky) is the cul-de-sac opposite which has about space for about 14 cars (although there is a boat permanently in one of these spaces), about 70% of the houses on that road have either got a driveway or a separate garage.

On 2 occasions now I have had residents (older ladies if that is of any consequence) come over to me whilst I am in my car and yell at me about how terrible and selfish I am for parking on their road and how it should be left for the residents and nobody else. I've calmly explained each time that it is a public road and not residents parking and I pay my road tax like everyone else (although if it was I suspect I'd get a permit as we're so close to the road in question and have no alternative parking on week days), that I have to drive to get my DD (just turned 6) to school and that I work some miles away in a place that is only accessible by car. I asked one of them where else they suggest I park - she just said "I don't care, just not here". I ended up closing my window on one of them, and let the other rant (we were a captive audience as a bin van was blocking the exit...fun!) until she ran out of steam and the van had left - at which stage I told her I wished she would focus her attention on more important things and drove off (yes - rude - not too proud of myself for saying that but she had just spent the last 10 minutes yelling at me).

DD was in the car both times I was berated and was very upset on one of the occasions as the woman was so nasty.

I continue to use the cul-de-sac to park, I have no choice, but I feel very uncomfortable doing so now.

YABU to say that you pay road tax. It doesn't exist and hasn't done since the 30s. You pay vehicle excise duty ("car tax").

But the rest of it - YANBU.

As long as it is public and not residents only parking and you're not blocking anyone's access then YANBU. Ideally speak to them at a less confrontational time, when you are not in the process of parking and see if that cools the situation down as you don't want to upset them when your car is being kept in their vicinity.

apologies re terminology

definitely never block anyone's access

one of them actually started their rant when I engaged them in communication by smiling and saying good morning, so I doubt that one in particular would be any less nasty if I approached her again but will try to pluck up the courage if I see her again

How many houses are there on the cul de sac with 13 available spaces?

I have to say... if I lived in that road I would be pretty pissed off too. You say 70% approx have their own driveway or garage, what about the other 30%?

And what's the point of saying "where do you suggest I park then.." no point at all because obviously no one can answer that. I understand what you are getting at and I understand that legally you can park there but it's not the road you live in and you chose to live where you do.

You say you have no choice but to park there, but you must have some sort of choice because if all the spaces were full, you would have to park elsewhere.

The woman had no right to be rude but I can imagine the frustration of having no driveway, no garage, getting home with a boot full of groceries and seeing someone who lived elsewhere parking in the last car space...

Rousette, but the residents of the cul de sac chose to live there too, in a street where there are not designated residents' bays (and I think the OP is correct that that she would get a parking permit if this was required).

OP, YANBU.

Many many households have more than one car now, so if the 30% with no dedicated parking available = more than 13 spaces, that's bad enough, but assuming at least some of the houses in the cul de sac have more than one car, then the 70% will be fighting for those spaces as well.

Must be enormously exasperating for all concerned.

YANBU. This happens at the top of the road where I live. The school at the top of the road was extended last year and they built over the car park to do this so now all the staff park along our road. It is annoying but there is nowhere else for them to park now their car park is gone.

YANBU, it's a public road, anyone can park there whether you live there or not. Where we live we only have space for one car on the drive so the other goes on the road, we live opposite a church so when there's a service it is a nightmare to park but the people who park have just as much right to be there as I do.

YANBU

I have had this when I have parked near my local railway station a few times. I have parked on the road, perfectly legally, not blocking anyone etc. Doesn't stop tossers from running out and moaning.

What I do is say "Oh, yes, it must be awful for you, I would never live in a road like this where everyone parks." Big cheesy smile. Wind up window. Ignore ignore ignore.

As I write Eric the Ferret, who visits next- door- but- one neighbour regularly when her husband is away working, is parked midway between my house and the house next door. This means visitors cannot park a car in front of our houses without blocking our drives. When asked to park his car more sensibly we get exactly the same response that the poster gives: public highway, can park where I like, not your piece of road etc. All true, but he doesn't live here; we do. A little consideration would help.

Yanbu op. I live on a road close to our city centre. We pay about £50 per year for permit parking. As a result we can nearly always find a space. If those residents are extremely fed up then perhaps they should speak to the council about having permits too, they choose to live there and cannot dictate who is allowed to park on that street, I say this as someone who previously lived right in the middle of the city where there was no allocated parking. It was a pain it that's life.

But that's life I mean.

Obviously I wouldn't condone thoughtlessly parking across someone else's driveway.

Thanks for your responses, I am as c

Sorry - bloody phone.

As I was saying, I am as considerate as I can be; never park on a dropped curb, park as tightly as sense allows so as many cars can fit in without it being so close it hinders people getting out, from Friday evening to Monday morning I park in the council car park (and that's cutting it fine as you're only really supposed to use it on Saturday and Sunday) - I did say all of this, and I understand their frustrations - but the frustration is misdirected, she should speak to the council, which I actually suggested one of them did, but she said it was a waste of time.

YANBU, we had a couple of prize specimens near school, who seemed to think they owned the road.

Fortunately the worst offender thought DD2 was incredibly cute and shut up.

wanders in<

Everyone calls it 'road tax' in the same way everyone calls council tax 'poll tax' or 'rates' if you are that old.

We know what the OP means, she is perfectly clear. No need to pick people up on petty little things when the whole post had clarity.

YANBU. It is impossible to park near my uni so I park on a long, predominantly residential road about a 15 minute walk away. Houses are mainly at one end and at the other end (where no residents ever park and where all the 'day parkers' park) are a care home and some other non-residential properties. Recently a resident leafleted all the cars at that end telling us in no uncertain terms how selfish and rude we were, that we were contributing to an increase in car break-ins in the area, and to find paid parking elsewhere.

All it did was make me even more determined to continue parking on that road.

YANBU to park on a public road. Unless you are blocking drives etc then it is tough tit to anyone else.

However, you did know the parking situation when you moved into that house. Also, I have to say that I find the 'I pay road tax I'll do what I like' attitude rather rude.

You will get a yanbu because that is the view of MN
Where I live it would be considered bad form to park outside someones house and I would not feel comfortable doing so

"I pay road tax I'll do what I like" - that's not exactly my sentiment, more we are all equal, I certainly don't think I can do what I like, only what's within the rules and I do my utmost to be considerate, but my need is equal to theirs and as an earlier poster said, yes I know the situation when I moved in, but so did they.

Ah, parking. A woman near where we live has 'No Parking' signs all along her wall even though it's a public highway. Everyone ignores them, though she does her damnedest to block as many spaces as she can with her own car. She knows parking is tight round here, she says, but doesn't want anyone to hit her house, she also says. Her DC are delightful, to so I try to see her good side. I fail.

Where we used to live, on a not-very-posh street that was near a station* and often totally parked up, we had no off-road parking and used to park round the corner on a posher street. One woman (with a MAHOOSIVE driveway) popped out of her five-barred gate one day, as I got small DC and shopping out of the car to trudge down the hill to our not-at-all-mahoosive house, and asked me not to park there as 'It's where my daughter leaves her car when she visits with the grandchildren.' I asked (politely) why her daughter couldn't park on the drive. Because the daughter found it difficult to turn her car into the gate. WTF was she driving? A road train?

Oh, I have a fund of these stories. I could go on for hours.

OP, YANBU.

*Yes, yes, I know, we chose to live there etc etc. I didn't mind too much about the commuters, but the people who left their cars there for a week or more when they went off on their hols did seriously piss me off.

Where I used to live, Brighton, you considered yourselves lucky if you parked in the same postcode, and that was with a parking permit.

I do understand why it pisses people off but you do not own the road outside your house.

I think you were right with the sentiment of 'I have just as much right to park here as anyone else' but I do get peeved when people bring road tax into it.

Fair enough, maybe I shouldn't have referred to road tax, but I was feeling rather defensive due to being ranted at for a good 5 minutes before I even got a word in!