....to be bemused by people NOT using their driveways???

[RebeccaBunchLawyer]

Hello.

Moved to the UK nearly 2 years ago, and until I bought a car never really realised that people WITH A DRIVEWAY DO NOT USE THEM MUCH!! Instead, they park next to their driveways, sort of “displaying” their driveways or “protecting” them, then hogging the bit of road next to said driveway.

My very odd neighbours have recently created a driveway and dropped curb (at “considerable” expense as he likes to tell anyone who’ll listen), but, yep, you guessed it, they have only used it to park their car in a couple of times when they went on holiday!

And yes, obviously a fully taxed and insured car can park legally on appropriate bits of road, but why not use your driveway and why the f have one built if you don’t really want to use it? Most of my English friends go on and on about wanting one but would they use it?

I feel like going to my neighbours and asking if I can park my little car on their driveway to get it off the road, since they obviously don’t really want it?!

The people opposite do this - their drive fits two cars comfortably so they park on on the drive and one on the road in a position that makes it difficult for me to get the right angle to reverse onto my drive.

They are, of course, perfectly entitled to do this but it makes me mutter darkly whenever I have to faff about getting my car on my drive.

We used to park directly in front of the house, next to the drive for a while because a woman kept parking there with her engine running noisily for up to an hour while messing about with her phone while I wasn't well and was trying to sleep.

Once I was up and about we stopped doing it, she eventually disappeared.

Unfortunately using your own driveway can result in entitled tossers parking over it leaving you trapped. Not legal but hassle all the same. And shared drives even worse.

Their drive is such that both cars can get on and off with no faffing about BTW.

I had a driveway but didn’t use it! But that was because OH would get in from work later than me so I’d take a road space to leave him the drive as the road would usually be full by the time he got in. He’d park in the drive.

Not parking on your own drive must be the new not using your garage for your car. There's an areshole near us who has a drive big and long enough for at least two cars. He, or she, parks fully on the pavement instead. Anyone on foot has to either cross the road (a very busy A road) or walk over arsehole's grass. I have reported it because it is an every day occurrence. I'm guessing the police have other priorities.

We have a 3 car driveway and 4 cars. My life is a constant game of Tetris trying to fit them all on but we don't use the road unless we have to as all our other neighbours have the same issue. And our elderly NDN is such a bad driver that we all feel a lot safer with our cars off the road . You can hear her revving the guts out of it before she lurches off at tortoise speed........... She's an amazing deterrent for everyone using the street tbh.

Ironically, where roads are wider, people use their drives more. Where roads are narrow, they don't. I see this at home - virtually everyone on our estate parks in their drives (most have a wide 2 car drive). A small number park on the road, usually where they have 2 cars, one car drive, or 3 cars on a 2 car drive. But at work, I have a drive next to my office, but rarely use it. It's because the road is narrow - only room for a parked car which then makes the road a single carriageway. When cars are parked either side of the drive or opposite, it's virtually impossible to get in/out of the drive, even if you reverse. That's the irony of it - if people didn't park on the road, we'd all be able to use our drives as they'd be more accessible!

Not parking on your own drive must be the new not using your garage for your car.

Unfortunately, certainly for modern estates, you couldn't fit a car in the garage if you tried. You'd have to get out and push it in as you couldn't open the car door. Not to mention that the garage is often the only place to store anything as modern houses are so tiny they rarely include any cupboards/storage spaces so you have to put things in the garage such as your vacuum, ironing board, etc unless you want them stored next to your sofa!

Our NDN parks both there cars out on the road in spaces and leaves there drive empty. Been that way since we moved in 3 years ago

I have a lovely, spacious drive. It can easily fit two cars and three if you park carefully. It would make life a lot easier if I could use it (heavy shopping, three children and disabled DH). We have one car, however I have to park on the road as NDN (who hate us) block us in or block the drive while we are gone. They have three cars and two large vans and refuse to move them. They don't block other neighbours, just us. I fantasize about terrible things happening to them all the time.

I warmed to this thread. We always use our driveway and would definitely not leave it exposed to various hazards on the road. Years ago it used to be easy to drive in and reverse out. Not now, neighbours park on the road so it is really difficult to see so we now have to reverse in and this is even more difficult because of cars left out on the opposite side of the road.and cars either side of our drive. We used to have a three car situation when dhs were at home but we never had them on the road. We moved them as needed like that “Butterflies” tv programme used years ago. On insurance applications you are asked where you keep your car. I wonder how many people say on the road when they possess. A driveway or garage!

@QuiteQuietly phone the police every time they do it. They'll soon stop.

My previous house had a generous driveway, extended at great cost to me. I did park on my driveway, but reversed in as getting out was a problem. People parked opposite my entrance and on the road next to my exit, leaving very little space to get out safely without doing several turns.

Pissed me off greatly.

My car is parked on the street, not the driveway at the moment

Reason being our driveway is one long driveway, I cam home last yesterday and DH was out 1st this morning. His diesel engine doesn't appreciate being started up for little manoeuvres.

We do have space to have a driveway that means the cars are not blocking the others in but quotes to have the work done were over £10k and I can't bring myself to spend that to solve a problem that doesn't overly bother me.

My ILS have a teeny garage and an off road parking space, but at one point had four cars when DH and SIL both lived at home after uni. They were incensed at their neighbours who also had four cars because of their grown up children but couldn’t see that they were part of the problem I still Get asked to leave my car keys if we go round there and pop out in case FIL wants to move my car to get a better space. We lived in London for years and in various places with crappy on road parking so I am pretty zen about it, but he cannot cope at all with not having the cars outside the side of their house.

Ironically, where roads are wider, people use their drives more. Where roads are narrow, they don't

Actually, that makes sense. Our road is wide enough to have cars parked on either side and fit one through the middle but it is difficult to get off the driveway if there are cars parked on both sides. Far easier to park in the road and just pull out.

Unfortunately, certainly for modern estates, you couldn't fit a car in the garage if you tried.

You can fit a car easily in all the garages on our new build estate. Ours is a double and can easily accomodate two large cars. We don’t put our car in it because I can’t be bothered opening the door (and just use the drive, which accomodates two cars side by side); our garage is for storing crap.

You could just about fit a car in the garage if the various 1930s houses we’ve lived in. But you wouldn’t be able to actually open any of the car doors and get out. Some of those houses had horrendously narrow driveways (rented so we couldn’t widen them) that you’d get stuck on if anyone parked on the other side of the road.

It's so irritating. We can only fit one car in the drive so my partner parks in there, then I park my small car obstructing our driveway so other people can park in front of my house if they need to.
Sometimes my neighbour parks midway between the houses so only they can park there, and they have a driveway!! I don't get it

Hurrah for a benefit bashing thread!

Benefit bashing bingo:
Hardworking families
stop at two kids
playing the system
face tattoos
Jeremy Kyle
Taxpayers money
Council houses
crime
bad example
vasectomy
feckless
single mums
chavs
why should i have to pay for...
lifestyle choice
children not a birthright
I work xxxx hours
flat screen tv

Blah blah blah blah...

What a shit society we have become.

I can’t help feeling that “not using your driveway”. Ones under benefit bashing...

Does not come under...

Are me and DH the only people in the world who park the car in the garage?

I do! but only because we have 4 cars and not enough driveway and I WFH so mine is first in/last out.

We have a (very tight) 2 car driveway. 2 cars 1 caravan. Caravan on the driveway so 1 car on driveway and 1 across the front half on pavement as our road is very narrow. Now we have just had new neighbours without a driveway with 2 cars but only enough room to park 1.5 cars outside it. They started parking both cars outside their house but half a car hangs over our driveway where the caravan is parked. They probably think they can do that because the caravan dosent move atm due to being winter and no holidays. So we cant park my long estate car outside/across our own dropped curb driveway without hanging over the neighbour on the otherside with yet another drop curb with double driveway. So....when they moved the car that was hanging over our driveway i parked my car right up to the boundary even though there was a space on the driveway due to husbands car being with him at work. So they now cant park their car overhanging my driveway. Anyone passing by would think im a knob for parking across my driveway and not on it.
And no i didnt simply ask them to move as i suspect they would have given me verbal abuse...i came to that conclusion because anyone that is cheeky enough to park across someones drop curb will be cheeky enough to argue about it when confronted!