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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Think I was a bit of a twat when I told off someone parking across my drive

67 replies

Boysclothes · 10/09/2014 23:02

I live on the same road is a primary school, about 60 feet from the gate. At drop off/pick up parents park both sides of the road when there isn't really room for this and it can be very tricky driving down my road and the roads that access it, and once I really couldn't manage it, the cars either side just made it too narrow. We've had a few letters from the school along the lines of "sorry, we know it's crap, please let us know the reg numbers of any poor packers and we will highlight it, also we're getting the PCSOs round" so they are proactive with it.

Anyway, I have a big drive entrance with dropped kerb and hockey stick lines which is continuos with my neighbours drive. Today swinging on to my drive from my usual angle I couldn't, as someone was parked sort of half way across my drive entrance. I could still easily get in though by going half across neighbours bit and then into mine.

It riled me a bit so after I parked I got out and saw someone in the offending car. I said "mate, you're parked half way across my drive" he sort of twiddled his fingers at me apologetically. I said "please don't do that again", my tone was arsey. He then said "sorry, just for a few minutes" to which I replied "I don't care how long it's for it's my drive and I don't want it blocked. There's plenty of parking up the road where you don't have to block people in" he nods and smiles so I said "the school have asked to know who is parking badly so please don't do it again" and went indoors. However my tone was very much full of arsiness.

I feel a bit of a prick, I'm someone who doesn't sweat the small stuff generally and feel most of us are just doing our best. And some people live on rubbish dumps in Bangladesh. So get over it. I could, after all, get on my drive and he was just a dad trying to pick up his kids on roads with no parking. WIBU? I'd just run the gauntlet of squeezing between packed cars trying not to knock wingmirrors off and I was pissed off about that really.

OP posts:
silverten · 11/09/2014 12:53

I don't blame you in the slightest.

I used to live on a road opposite a school. It was carnage at chucking out time- you literally couldn't drive in or out of the road- there were basically four lanes of stationary traffic for about half an hour. Mercifully I got the bus to work or it would have been a major hassle.

Today I met a friend as we were walking to school, parking a little way down the road. As we were walking up we got talking about the school run and travel (she lives round the corner from me and had said she was going to walk, so I was wondering why she'd got in the car for the sake of half a mile's walk). She said something about not being sure about parking and I pointed out that as long as she wasn't blocking anyone's driveway she should be ok. It was at that point she made it pretty clear that she genuinely didn't know that parking across someone's drive wasn't a good thing to do...! So look at it this way- you might well have done this guy a favour in a roundabout sort of a way!

syne · 11/09/2014 13:14

"One man sat in his car parked up on my drive next to my car and said he was waiting for his wife to come back from walking their child into school.And that he will move when she gets back."

That truly is taking the piss! I would be sprinkling nails and drawing pins all over the drive around his car if he said that to me.

Aeroflotgirl · 11/09/2014 13:16

Yanbu, did you pass his registration plate number to the school

TSSDNCOP · 11/09/2014 13:25

That wasn't arsey. I would have been a world more arsey than that particularly the finger waving.

YWNBU.

Anyone actually on my drive and it'd be time to lavishly creosote the fence with the uncontrollable Ronseal spray gun.

Andrewofgg · 11/09/2014 13:26

"Put in drop-off parking"

Where?

At most schools there is nowhere, or at least nowhere that will not block pedestrians.

And where it could be done some of the school-runners will treat it as parking space while they take their little darlings in. It really is no use indulging them.

frignorant · 11/09/2014 13:35

YANBU. Some people just don't understand how inconsiderate they are being,

fogliadalloro · 11/09/2014 13:41

Sympathies to OP, although it might seem unreasonable, if you live on a road by a school where parents park, you start off thinking you will be ok and cool and then there is just the moment when you snap, because people constantly go too far, and whilst most of them are ok about it, it only needs one episode where they give you some lip back and then your attitude changes a bit and you get jaded.

diddl · 11/09/2014 13:55

I can see it's annoying, but you did manage to get onto your drive!

ScrambledSmegs · 11/09/2014 14:29

Now, this is why I'm a bit wary about moving house. Where I live right now, the parking wardens are shit hot. I once got a fine for parking across a driveway. My car was about 2 inches across a huge dropped kerb driveway, if that. But I was in the wrong, so I paid. Never did it again.

You can also be fined for parking too far away from the pavement, parking on the pavement (except in designated areas where it's obligatory) and parking 'without due care and consideration for other road users'. I have yet to learn what that means though.

Luckily most primary schools in the area are within walking distance, otherwise I can imagine the wardens would be getting the best performance bonuses in the country.

Kiffykaffycoffee · 11/09/2014 14:51

Nope not at all unreasonable. Sounds like you were assertive rather than agressive, you didn't swear like a lot of people would have done. And he probably don't do it again!

FuckOffWeasel · 11/09/2014 14:57

He then said "sorry, just for a few minutes

And so is the guy before him and the guy after...

People are twats and yanbu op

OwlCapone · 11/09/2014 15:30

Anyone actually on my drive and it'd be time to lavishly creosote the fence with the uncontrollable Ronseal spray gun.

if you want something less permanent, jet washing your drive is guaranteed to cover the car in crud.

AgaPanthers · 11/09/2014 15:40

He's the prick, some idiot at school this morning was parked on the no parking signs, she apologised to the caretaker, but there was no excuse other than laziness.

Stinkle · 11/09/2014 16:06

YANBU.

Parking outside my children's school is insane. Someone is going to get hurt one day

I live in a little tiny close of 8 houses (it used to be a farm yard) that backs onto a village, the access road in is a private single lane farm track. We're not particularly close to the school, but we do have a little short cut which leads through the housing estate behind us, to the school - about a 10 minute walk.

Never had any problems until the school runners discovered us, started with 1 or 2 cars, then more and more until it progressed to cars parked on our drives and front gardens, or all over the turning circle, and parked down the access lane so we couldn't get up and down it.

We would get "oh, it'so only a few minutes" too. Actually it's not. 10 minutes to school, 10 minutes back, 5 or so minutes speaking to teacher and farting with book bags, then 20 minutes gassing to mates outside the gates. Some cars were there for up to an hour sometimes.

Any complaints to the culprits were ignored. We complained to school regularly, they sent out letters but they never had any effect.

We ended up with a locked gate at the start of the lane, and then a locked gate at the start of the short cut. Right pain in the arse to have to keep locking/unlocking gates but it was the only way to stop it

I8toys · 11/09/2014 16:27

YANBU I live next to a primary school and have had a word about people parking across my drive. Its always I'm only going to be a few minutes - its never a few minutes when they get chatting about shite with the other school mums.

Get up earlier lazy twunts, walk to school and when it rains omg they lose the plot - on the hazards, everywhere.

Writerwannabe83 · 11/09/2014 16:33

I had someone park across my drive and block my car in for over 4 hours last week!!! When I found out who it belonged to I went knocking on the door of the house they were in and went mental at them. It's so unbelievably rude and entitled!

darkness · 11/09/2014 16:46

Our local school had a persistent bunch of selfish parents who just won't walk...even from the never full school carpark..
So when one of the parents had a heart attack in the playground the ambulance couldn't get past the stupid and illegal parking
True..it was only ten minutes untill the cars cleared...but he's still dead....
So when people say get a life, and its not worth it...I feel they are absolutely wrong.

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