Could I get into trouble for this parking?

[hyperhypermum]

Inspired by the parking in a disabled bay thread but, to be clear, I did not park in a disabled bay, or anywhere illegal for that matter.

Parking near my work is very tricky so I choose to park a 10 minute walk away in a residential street with no restrictions. It's an average width street and, if there were no parked cars, 2 vehicles could pass each other easily. However, there are always a lot of parked cars so a fair amount of giving way is required.

This morning, I pulled into my usual spot and saw that a couple of cars had parked on the opposite side of the road, parallel with my car. I thought it looked a little tight but a quick assessment told me it was fine and other cars could still squeeze through. There was nowhere else to park so I left it.

When I returned to my car, another driver had to wait for me to open my door and climb in before she could pass (no room to pass with my door open).She gave me a filthy look as she passed and I just thought she was rather impatient. However, I then noticed a couple of blokes working further up the road in high vis jackets (not sure if they were from the council). As I went to pull away, one starting to walk purposely towards my car, I'm pretty sure he intended to speak to me. I was in a hurry and really didn't think I'd done anything wrong apart from some perhaps not ideal parking. I chose to pretend I hadn't seen him and drove off. As I passed the other man, he gave me a filthy stare.

I'm now worrying they might report me or, even worse, I might appear on facebook or one of those websites showing twattish parking. AIBU?

Ambulances and fire engines are wider than you think. Would one have got through in an emergency? Probably not if it's as narrow as described - and someone could have died from your selfishness

General rule of thumb is 'is there enough room for a fire engine?' I doubt you're in any trouble, but I wouldn't do it again.

x post

That wasn't ideal parking at all

You should have found somewhere else.

If there are no restrictions, can't see that there's an issue - emergency services being able to pass is generally a good litmus test in terms of parking with common sense.

I've decided not to jump to conclusions as Lola has and assume that your 'selfishness' hasn't caused multiple deaths...

I think you know that you parked really selfishly. I would hazard that if the workmen in the van had struggled then a fire engine would have no chance.
You can't blame anyone else if you do end up on FB.

The man in hi vis could have been coming to tell you that you had a flat tire, or someone had scratched your car and he had their license plate, or something else to your benefit.

But you drove on because you had a guilty conscience and knew full well you had parked badly to others and didn't want to hear about it. You probably never even though about the inconvenience and risks to others before this thread.

If a fire engine needed to come up the road then they would quite happily scrape/damage your car if it's parked selfishly. You see they consider that is better than someone losing their life.

Unless they know you parked after the people opposite you, I can't see how you would be in trouble. I've had a stranger have a go at me for my parking when I was fine when I parked, but subsequently surrounded by idiots.

But I do agree you must suspect you have parked selfishly in this instance.

I live in a street like this, it's a PITA for delivery drivers and tradesmen not to mention emergency services when selfish, inconsiderate people do this. Also for those that have drives makes it almost impossible to get in and out if there's a car opposite and one either side.

Yep - emergency vehicles have the right to force parked vehicles out of the way, and I believe your insurance won't pay out if they do.

Is there room for a fire engine?

In a town near me there almost every residential road is too narrow for a fire engine to get through very easily. Little off road parking, everyone parks up both sides of the road. It's very tight with just one car coming through. No restrictions.

I always assumed that a fire engine would either scratch the cars if they needed to get through? I can't imagine them doing anything else.

I'd think the same as 'wings',
Have you checked your car for scratches etc. It seems weird that someone would specifically target you if you were parked opposite someone else. How would he know the other person had parked first and you were the one being inconsiderate.
Just because you were allowed park there, and could park there doesn't mean you should. More consideration and less selfishness might be a good way forward.

If the road is only a single lane each way, then surely you would be blocking the road if you parked opposite other parked cars, or have I misunderstood your post and the road was wide enough for 3 cars to fit adequately?

Could this all just be you misjudging the situation?
The woman in the car might have just have a resting bitch face and the work man could just be walking in your direction.

I think that you are feeling guilty about leaving your car parked outside someones house all day and are feeling anxious when you get back to the car. This is leaving you looking for problems that just aren't there.

Maybe the workmen hadn't been able to get their van past you and had to carry all their equipment up the road? I imagine if that was the case, they might have been coming to tell you to park elsewhere tomorrow.

You think you have a usual spot in a residential street to park in?! And you're sticking to it like glue, even if someone else has parked in a way that makes it dangerous?

If you are one of the workers that fills my estate with their parked cars every day (necessitating parking restrictions to enable delivery men and emergency vehicles even the slightest chance of access) then yes, the residents are not happy about it.

Parking is a pain, but you might have known that if you were parking in that street, then so would others. Streets like that really need to be parking on one side only and strictly enforced.

It was definitely wide enough for 2 cars parked either side and one to drive through the middle. The woman who glared at me proved that (4 x 4) although she couldn't fit through when my door was open. Although I must confess I didn't think specifically ambulance when I parked, I deduced it was wide enough to get through and was more concerned it might cause a bit of bottleneck when 2 cars wanted to pass each other as few gaps to pull into (I personally hate it when that happens but in some roads it's unavoidable).

Anyway, thank you for your replies, it's shamed me into never taking such a risk again x

I hope you do get into trouble. Twat parkers like you are the reason why my neighbour couldn't get the ambulance to come to her door. I hope you get featured on parkinglikeacunt.com

It does sound as if you should not have parked there. It isn't enough just to think of cars you have to consider emergency and service vehicles too.

Takesnoprisoners a fantastic overreaction there.

She could have been giving you a dirty look as she was in a hurry and waiting for you to close your car door.