to be furious at this school run parking nightmare woman?

[missced]

So, excuse me while I try to calm down..... it has only just happened you see! . Usual scenario,, busy residential street, school run parking at a premium. I always scrupulously avoid parking over residents driveway exits where there is a single dropped kerb. I have just been told off by some van driver's wife (house has four cars parked out front) for parking over part of their double dropped kerb. Their kerb is twice the size of everyone else's, no doubt to feed their car collecting fetish, but my point is, as I made politely to her, that I had left an exit for her. It just wasn't the one she wanted to use. I know tempers get inflamed at these times, but our local situation is terrible, and I try my best not to upset anyone. I used to live on the same road, it's a small community, and I don't want to be unreasonable but this woman was so condescending and entitled and told me off like a six year old with a toileting problem. If it was a question of access for pushchairs, wheelchairs or the blind it would be different. Why should she assume she can have two free spaces on the street outside her house when everyone else gets one? I am looking forward to tomorrow's parking battle .

snatchedpencil

tw@s would be better than tw@ts, though, if we must be coy. Just saying.

You mean tw1ts?

Wouldn't that be t1nts?

The household has paid a premium to have a double dropped driveway, so, she is right you should not park there. She probably has this problem on a daily basis, so walk a day in her shoes.
What ever happened to children walking a bit, bearing in mind years ago mum's and some dads did not have cars so the problem didn't occur.

Drop kerb , double, triple or the whole street you have no right to park over their drop kerb. Inconsiderate parking infuriates me and obviously the op too

Well done OP. I dreamt about dropped curbs last night after reading this thread!

OK had a dropped kerb in previous property ourselves, which police removed some vehicles who parked across it BECAUSE it had white lines painted.... and been through it at school.

You can legally park across a driveway with a dropped kerb unless it had white lines. So lady with property is wrong as dropped kerb is one thing to pay council for ( that's even if she did it legally herself by getting council to do it ) but not paying council for white lines people can leave their cars all day and she can't do a thing.

This is from experience which police and council confirmed facts to us. This was in London but if biggest city has those rules then must be same for rest of country.

And as for people who live their parking their cars across the white lines, the council can tow it. As no one can park over white lines.

Dropped kerb = anyone can park
Dropped kerb + white lines = no parking at all

Goddam it, the OP has come back and been completely reasonably!!

People often park over my double dropped kerb (which I paid to have done) and it drives me nuts. It's a really short driveway so I can't physically get my car out even if DH's isn't there. I had to stay in all day one Saturday because someone parked there and I couldn't get out.

She may have paid the council to have had a 2nd dropped kerb.
She is in the right that noone can park across it and could have legally called the council for a tow truck to tow you away (tow trucks can arrive quickly).
I know you probably thought you were doing no harm.
It's possible she is a bitter unfeeling cow. But it is also possible that parking across her drive generates a lot of stress for her.

Whilst I think you were BU , today I did it however it was like 2cm causing no obstruction to anyone I just squeezed into the space by it and it very !slightly! overlapped . I never do it as I hate it but as there was no car on the drive and plenty of room to get in or out this once I thought I'd be ok (for 5 minutes) . Eugh cue loads of abuse from the guy who had returned in those few minutes ( and managed to get on the drive anyway ) - I would have apologised had he been nice but abuse in front of my kids - no thanks . Gave him what for and drove off . Yes it is courtesy to not park there but it is not illegal . And no - I don't think I am entitled at all I would never intentionally obstruct anyone and usually always drive back off of I think I will cover someone's drive .

I would be pissed off if I was her. She's paid to have the kerbs dropped. You're in the wrong.

Well done OP for admitting that on this occasion you were the one being unreasonable. I think most of us react to conflict. Parking is always one of those stressful situations, hope you find a good spot tomorrow! X

ur not meant to park over dropped curbs would u park there if there was a risk of a ticket no course u wouldn't pisses me of when people park aross my driveway.

YABU she probably had to pay for the dropped curb and did this for her parking requirements. We extended our driveway for similar reason (lots of cars parked in narrow street) someone parked half over our drive leaving space for a normal car to get passed (but ours is long so couldn't get passed) had to ask the person to move and I never got a sorry or nothing was made to feel like I was the one in the wrong to inconvenience them in moving.

Maybe this has happened to her more then once and she is fed up with it.

You were in the wrong sorry

Sorry - what IS a dropped kerb????

OP Wins her own thread
Well done OP

You never park on a dropped kerb. No matter what the reason. You need to find somewhere else to park or go earlier/later. When my kids were you they attended a village school with the same problems. So between the parents, the school, and the village pub, we had an agreement to park in the pub car park for free for thirty mins in the morning and thirty mins in the evening (the car park was ticketed) to enable us to park safely and walk down the road to the school. Most parents didn't do this, most still parked over people's drives, dropped kids off in the middle of the road or endangered the life of the crossing lady. The problems only calmed down when the council were called as they then sent out a parking inspector with a police escort to ticket all the school mums.

Oh, and just so you know, this wasn't a school in a bad area, this was a school where some students were the children of business owners, engineers, barristers, doctors, dentists, car dealers, garage owners, stable owners etc.

I used to live near a school and people would always just overhang my dropped curb so I couldn't get in and had to drive around so that I could come from the other direction and sometimes manage to squeeze in. I had white lines as well as my partner was on oxygen and going in and out of hospital in an ambulance. If an ambulance had to be called they wouldn't have managed to get to him due to these parked cars and overhangs. Pls Don't assume anything about the people who live in the house they may have Been in a similar situation, I would always wait and explain to people on their return. It really isn't ok.

*young. When my kids were young. I'm typing on my phone.

Well done OP. I'd have run away and name-changed.

This is a bugbear down my road too. I would be fuming if somebody parked over my drive, so would NEVER park over anybody else's. I think you CAN park on a dropped kerb IF there is no car in the driveway, therefore you are not causing an obstruction. If there IS a car in the drive then I'm afraid that's a no no.

School Mums parking can be a bloody nightmare..it's THEM who feel they are entitled!

I wouldn't park over any dropped curb but I do feel your pain. I have children at two different schools due to there being no place for my eldest when we moved here a year ago. I am a very careful parker and purposefully park a bit further out so as not to be involved in the mayhem and potentially get stuck when I have to get to the other school straight away. Yesterday I go back to the car (which was parked on a main road with 2-3ft space before a driveway) and noticed another car parked very close to the rear. As I got myself and my child in and older lady started walking up to the end of the drive and motion Ed and mouthed for me to 'clear off'. I was quite taken aback and had I not been in a rush I may have politely told her that the road does not belong to her. People park in front of my house all the time no as long as I'm not blocked in I don't care.

I once rang the council, the police and the local parking enforcement about dropped curbs. I was parking legally on a street near school and one home owner would park across his dropped curb so there wasn't room for me to park in the legal space. The consistent message from all three was it was illegal for anyone to park on a dropped curb and if I called the police he would be towed away.

We have a double dropped kerb, applied for it for ages and had to pay a ridiculous amount. I go mad when people park over ours - again people on a school run. You are in the wrong!