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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that people should park on their drives if they have one?!

169 replies

Singsongsung · 16/08/2015 08:28

Ok. It's a parking AIBU so I'm bracing myself...
I live on a cul-de-sac, they layout of which means that parking is pretty limited. There are several people who regularly park on the road when they have decent drives (easily big enough for 2 or 3 cars). This means that whenever we have visitors they have nowhere to park and end up parking on another road entirely (probably irritating the hell out of the people who live there!).
I don't understand at all why anyone would choose to park on the road and leave their driveway empty?
AIBU? (Dons hard hat and braces herself)...

OP posts:
Andrewofgg · 16/08/2015 13:48

Move cones onto the pavement and take the space - and keep on till they give up.

Sapat · 16/08/2015 14:28

Parking is always an issue. I don't know why councils allow houses to be built with insufficient parking. It devalues property anyway.

earbrow · 16/08/2015 15:01

You live on a cul-de-sac?

Fgs man up and talk to your neighbours about it

Anniesaunt · 16/08/2015 15:37

I have had several rants to my DH about people parking on the road when they have drives or car parks at the rear. I am so sick of having to reverse, do 3 point turn and drive the long way round ( extra 1.5 mile) because the same lazy neighbours prefer to block the road instead of manoeuvring onto their drive ways.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 16/08/2015 15:49

"I get the 'you can park where you like' but what about a bit of consideration for others. And God forbid if you park in 'their' spot. Mr Angry Neighbour will block you in so you can't get out".

What you do in that case is to then have a word with the PCSOs; they would be interested and will speak to the car owner.

Original poster
Singsongsung · 16/08/2015 15:49

Ear- as I've said they've been spoken to by myself and others many many times. It fixes it for a while but they soon resume old habits.

I've actually on occasion asked individuals if they could move their car just for that day if we've had visitors coming for special occasions such as children's parties etc (if possible, thank you, please etc etc) and been told that they'd have to check to see whether their visitors might pop round at some point....

OP posts:
ACSlater · 16/08/2015 15:52

Haven't rtft.

I park on the road even though we have a drive. I tell insurance I do this and it's actually cheaper.

Main reason being, we live near a school on a hull. If someone parks opposite our drive the last car can't get the angle to get off, the first can. Also, often due to how others park, I'd need to turn the wrong way out of the drive and turn in the turning bay at the bottom. Sadly a lot of nit wits park in these "parking spaces".

Superexcited · 16/08/2015 16:01

You want people who live on the street to change their parking habits on the off chance that you might have a visitor that day?
If you love on a cul de sac it can't be that far for your visitors to walk if they have have to park at the end of the street or in the next street as cul de sacs are usually quite small.
I live on a cul de sac and everybody has a drive but not everybody chooses to use their drive and most houses have at least 2 cars so even those that use the drives often have to park one car on the road.
We could at a squeeze get both of our cars in the drive but it would be a faff due to the size of our cars and the shape of the drive so we park one car on the drive and we park the other one on the road. Even if we could be bothered to park both cars on the drive I couldn't be doing with having to move my husbands car every time I wanted to go out with the children (I need my car as it has disabled adaptations for DC so I couldn't just take the car that came onto the drive last).
If I have visitors then they can block our drive or if it is somebody with a disability and they can't fit in front of our drive my DH will move his car to the next street and vacate that space for the disabled visitor.
Maybe my neighbours think I am a bit twattish for our parking habits but most people on the street park at least one car on the road.

Original poster
Singsongsung · 16/08/2015 16:08

Super, as I've said, the drives all fit 2 or 3 cars and are easily accessed. I can't park in front of my drive, the layout doesn't accommodate me doing that. My neighbours always, but always, park on the road leaving their drives empty all of the time. I think that we should ALL park on our drives on the off chance that ANY of us has a visitor so that the visitors can park in the cul de sac, avoiding having to park around the corner, this annoying someone else by parking outside their house.
The houses were well designed- there's ample space on the driveways. People just for whatever reason don't want to use it. In some cases, they use the area outside their house so often that effectively they have extended the boundaries of their property.
And yes, I object to having to ask grovel a neighbour to move their car onto the drive to allow visitors to park when those visitors never have to ask me!! I'm asking permission to use something which they don't own and have no more right to use than I do!

OP posts:
Mamiof3 · 16/08/2015 16:10

I understand having a very tight drive or a drive where you can't get the car out properly but a big open 2 car driveway not on a hill, not blocked in or round a tight bend, WHYYY don't people use them?! Do they just like space outside their house?!

Superexcited · 16/08/2015 16:18

It doesn't matter how often they use the space outside their house, they haven't extended the boundaries of their property they are just parking where they are legally allowed to. It would be neighbourly if everyone parked on their drive if it was easy for them to do so but obviously not everyone is neighbourly or considerate.
You don't have to ask anyone to park on their drive so your visitors can park, your visitors can just park at the end of the street or on the next street. Disabilities aside, most cul de sacs are so short that parking around the corner isn't more than a 2 minute walk even at snail pace.

Lauren15 · 16/08/2015 16:20

YANBU. In our street the houses on our side only have enough space on our drives for one car but on the other side the drives can fit two cars. I park my car in front of my house and my dh parks on the drive. For 7 years we didn't have a problem.
Before Christmas a new family moved across the road and they have both decided to park their cars in front of my house (not theirs). I can't imagine why. They have a spacious drive. Now I struggle to park. What has really made me furious is that on two recent occasions I have parked in front of my house overnight and then left in the morning and my kids have seen the woman across the road, who was parked on the drive, immediately come out of her house, get in her car and claim the space for the rest of the day! Why?? I could almost understand her thinking if I was parking in front of her house on a daily basis but this is in front of my fricking house!!

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 16/08/2015 16:28

when we didn't have a drive I used to get annoyed about this.
now we have a drive and we park there as the default system.
but, occasionally we park on the road with the VW van so visitors can park on the drive.
however, the Jaguar is always parked on the drive to avoid accidental damage and because insurance is slightly cheaper if you claim off road parking IIRC

(not stealth boast btw. I brag to anyone. it's my Jag. mine mine mine. love it. no eating or drinking allowed in it!)

Original poster
Singsongsung · 16/08/2015 16:30

I think Super you summed it up when you said they're not being very neighbourly or considerate.
The thing is that no one minds having to park somewhere else every once in a while but when it's every single time- all the time, every day, every occasion where we have visitors, it kind of wears a bit thin...

OP posts:
Katie2001 · 16/08/2015 16:37

It's just downright selfish really, I can see why it would annoy you. Our road has lots of dropped kerbs for offstreet parking (I don't have one though) and I think people with more than one car should park one offstreet and one across the drop, rather than taking up several spaces. I was asked once not to park next to (not over) a dropped kerb as 'her husband likes to use that space to reverse in'. I just have to keep reminding myself I don't own the road, but it is extremely annoying.

comedycentral · 16/08/2015 16:40

I wonder what they say on their car insurance? Maybe they lie and say they park on their drives when they actually park on the road.

MaidOfStars · 16/08/2015 16:49

Have I remembered correctly that it's not illegal to park on someone else's driveway, as long as you aren't blocking a vehicle in?

Just saying.

GoblinLittleOwl · 16/08/2015 16:52

Yes they should. I always park in my drive if I can, having seen a car parked on the road ruined when another larger vehicle skidded into it.

Round the corner is a house which has five cars; one parked on the lawn, one on the grass verge,now both muddy patches, one in the road, and two in their drive.
Their garage is empty, used for the husband or brother to tinker with his motor bike. Next door has a motor home (large) in their drive and their car parked in the road. As this is a village, all the roads were originally lanes, meaning that cars parked in the road reduce the width of the road to single lane; frequent bends mean it is difficult to see oncoming traffic, children and animals.

tangledhairnocomb · 16/08/2015 17:05

When our bit of our cul de sac was built a neighbour had the foresight to register it as unadopted which meant that he could put a "Private- Residents only" sign at the entrance. It wasn't popular apparently (we didn't move in until later) but we're grateful now as the parking further up is chaotic. There's an average of 3 cars per house and hardly any of them use their drives. Only trouble is the narrow entrance is almost blocked so God help us if anyone needs the emergency services

SuckMySquallop · 16/08/2015 17:19

The thing is that no one minds having to park somewhere else every once in a while but when it's every single time- all the time, every day, every occasion where we have visitors, it kind of wears a bit thin...

Sorry, but this alone proves you need to get a life.

Who cares if it wears a bit thin - you dont own the road. They arent blocking you in/out.

Your guests can block you in if its that much of a pain. You really have no legitimate grounds to speak of - especially when your neighbour is doing nothing illegal at all.

Wind your brass neck in.

amarmai · 16/08/2015 17:20

op you are on the right track with the 'extend their property boundaries'. That explains the cones, oil on the windscreen, blocking, etc They are behaving as if they own the road in front of their houses.'[ Not sure about the woman who owns the road in front of someone else's house ?] Similar encroachment happens with fences ,hedges,etc not on the proper line. Is there a name for this encroachment behaviour?

RedCrayons · 16/08/2015 17:33

*"I get the 'you can park where you like' but what about a bit of consideration for others. And God forbid if you park in 'their' spot. Mr Angry Neighbour will block you in so you can't get out".

What you do in that case is to then have a word with the PCSOs; they would be interested and will speak to the car owner.*

Would they really? Mmmmmmm, I'm sensing an anonymous tip off. He once blocked in a private ambulance who were 'collecting' a recently departed neighbour. He moved when asked but really? Who does that?

RedCrayons · 16/08/2015 17:34

highlight fail

Original poster
Singsongsung · 16/08/2015 18:52

Suck, again if you read my previous posts you'll see that I've said that it isn't possibly to park in front of my house or drive. That's the nature of how the cul-de-sac is set out. As a result the amount of on road parking is very limited and very necessary for use by ALL not just a few.

OP posts:
Lauren15 · 16/08/2015 20:05

I personally find it very disappointing when people don't show consideration for their neighbours. That may sound a bit pathetic but it makes life so much easier when neighbours get along. I don't mean be best buddies but try to help each other out.