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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

A parking one!

374 replies

holidaysareoverated · 29/07/2015 10:02

We have put in a new driveway and the council have dropped the kerb outside. However, they have failed to remove the markings that there used to be a parking space there. The markings are a bit of a mess as the old markings are there alongside the guides the council have put there to show where they are moving the parking space to.

A young girl has come along, parked her car, put her headphones in and walked off in the direction of the town centre. I didn't have time to run out and stop her and the headphones meant shouting after her wouldn't have done any good.

Would I be unreasonable to request that the council send a warden out to give her a ticket?

There is no way that she could have missed that she was parking across our drive. It's large and has a big car parked on it. There were 2 parking spaces there and our drive is bang in the middle... she has parked her small Fiesta in the middle too. So right over the dropped kerb with no attempt to leave any room for access. Had it still been a parking space she would be effectively stopping another car from being able to park there. If she had parked at the beginning or end of the bay we could have still got off our driveway.

So What would you do?

OP posts:
Original poster
holidaysareoverated · 29/07/2015 16:57

I can't really afford a cab there and back no.
I have been working from home today hence why I have been online all day, and why I have been able to sit and look out at this bloody car all day.

I really wish I had run after her this morning now. I really thought she would be back after a couple of hours.

OP posts:
ButterflyUpSoHigh · 29/07/2015 16:57

A note for the future OP. You shouldn't be reversing off your drive ever. You need to reverse on and pull off forwards.

I hope you get it sorted in time.

GloGirl · 29/07/2015 16:58

Lurking husband - what they mean is people just don't pay the fee

SoupDragon · 29/07/2015 17:01

Is your car much bigger than hers? Can you just repeatedly ram into the side of it until you push it out of the way?

Not really. Although imagining it might cheer you up a bit.

LurkingHusband · 29/07/2015 17:02

GloGirl

Lurking husband - what they mean is people just don't pay the fee

from the op

Spoke to the Police again. They say they definitely don't tow unless absolutely necessary i.e. an emergency as it costs money. I told them I thought the car owner would get the bill and she laughed and said "unfortunately not".

You may be right, but that isn't what the OP reported.

BitOutOfPractice · 29/07/2015 17:03

If someone sees you out (and warns any pedestrians) you'll be fine coming out slowly across the pavement.

Driving slowly off a kerb does not "shake all your insides about". That's utterly ridiculous.

Alternatively can you get someone else to collect from nursery. Like the DC's dad?

I appreciate that this is annoying. Really bloody annoying. But youdo seem to want to make a drama out of a crisis.

SoupDragon · 29/07/2015 17:04

I think there must be a difference between the council towing your car away to a car pound, where you have to pay a fine and fee, and the police removing a vehicle.

LurkingHusband · 29/07/2015 17:05

Driving slowly off a kerb does not "shake all your insides about". That's utterly ridiculous.

But it can damage a car. Depends on how high the kerb is.

Original poster
holidaysareoverated · 29/07/2015 17:05

No the police definitely told me that the bill doesn't go to the car owner, not that they just don't pay up.

We had our car towed years ago and we had to pay to have it released. We parked in a bay that was suspended for building works without realising as the signage for it was on the opposite side of the road. I assumed that they would tow this car and the girl would have to go and pay to collect it.

OP posts:
MissDemelzaCarne · 29/07/2015 17:05

When does your DH get home?

LurkingHusband · 29/07/2015 17:06

I think there must be a difference between the council towing your car away to a car pound, where you have to pay a fine and fee, and the police removing a vehicle.

When police impound and tow cars (no insurance, for example) the whole bill is presented to the driver. A good incentive to ensure your car is showing as insured on askmid.

LurkingHusband · 29/07/2015 17:07

No the police definitely told me that the bill doesn't go to the car owner, not that they just don't pay up.

Police aren't always right (as several policeman reminded me growing up).

WhatchaMaCalllit · 29/07/2015 17:09

If you can, try to get out of your driveway. Then jump out of your car and let some air out of her tyres leave a note on her windscreen to say that if she parks across your driveway again, you cannot be held responsible for the state of her car when she returns.

BitOutOfPractice · 29/07/2015 17:10

A normal suburban/ urban kerb will be fine. I can't imagine image lives in a high security part of a large city with the special high ones. And the op has told us she has a large car. To be scared of driving slowly down a normal kerb is just ridiculous. It really is.

SoupDragon · 29/07/2015 17:12

She isn't scared of driving down a kerb, she doesn't want to drive along the pavement.

Sparklingbrook · 29/07/2015 17:13

if there's no money for a cab and the car hasn't yet been towed then what is plan C?

3littlefrogs · 29/07/2015 17:13

The op has explained several times that she would have to drive for some distance along a pavement towards a blind bend on said pavement - a huge risk to pedestrians. This is not the same thing as just driving over a pavement and a normal kerb. I agree that she should not attempt this because if there was an accident she would be prosecuted for dangerous driving.

MokunMokun · 29/07/2015 17:13

Did you get out? Can your husband finish work early and go pick your DC up?

asmallandnoisymonkey · 29/07/2015 17:14

It's ridiculous how many people don't read the thread. If you don't want to read the whole thing, highlight the OP and just read THEIR posts.

The kerb is not the problem, driving illegally down a pavement is. Honestly.

ProcrastinatorGeneral · 29/07/2015 17:17

I hope you've managed to get your child ok.

LadyCuntingtonThe3rd · 29/07/2015 17:18

Tell your DH to go and pick up your DC.

LilMissSunshine9 · 29/07/2015 17:21

OP hasn't really made it that clear about what getting off her drive means to be honest. I don't see why she needs to drive all the way down the pavement unless the entire pavement has parked cars along it and therefore no space to just drive across the pavement off the kerb and into the road but all I have read is the constant I have to drive down the entire pavement...that doesn't explain to me why someone needs to do that.

If my dropped kerb access was blocked by a parked car and there were no other cars parked infront of that car then I would just have to drive over the pavement, over the kerb and into the road..I wouldn't have to drive down a pavement.

So despite reading the thread it isn't clear to me.

BitOutOfPractice · 29/07/2015 17:22

But if someone is there guiding and helping pedestrians it'll be fine. From what she's said it's a matter of yards, not miles.

And I know the op hadn't said she doesn't want to drive down the kerb but a pp (that I can't refer back to because I'm on the phone) said that she wouldn't want to drive down a kerb because it shakes all your insides up. T

And yes I have rtft thanks

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 29/07/2015 17:26

She has most likely parked there every single day and didn't even look today to see that your car was there.

And if she doesn't read why she has the ticket (which is , if I read correctly, for blocking you , not parking there if she has a permit to cover the whole day ) will likely do so again.

SoupDragon · 29/07/2015 17:26

A previous poster said she had driven down a kerb when pregnant and it had shaken her up.

No one at all said they were scared to do so.