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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Parking- why wouldn't you use your own drive?

90 replies

Tomboytown · 09/07/2018 16:15

This is just an irritation at the moment, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something.

Neighbours have two drives, two spaces that they could use without blocking each other in.
They have small children, I would have thought it's easier/safer to get them out in their drive rather than in the road.
The cars aren't too big for the gate posts-they're quite wide.
I recently couldn't use my drive and it drove me crazy parking in the road.

There is a big tree outside which they park under and birds crap on their cars. The kerb is all uneven because of the tree roots and they back up to it.
There are no other cars on the road. The road is wide.

It's annoying me because it restricts my view when I'm backing out, they park right up to the entrance of my drive, so I have to do a big arc to get in, and even though I indicate, cars behind me can't figure out that I'm turning in a drive.
When they have visitors they park outside my house, so in turn my visitors are parking further down.
Is it just a quick getaway they're after?!!

OP posts:
Sunnymeg · 09/07/2018 17:30

Our house deeds say that we have to park in our garage or on our driveway. Our driveway is curved with a brick wall all along one side. It is an absolute pig to get on and off of. We haven't got a choice though, we have to use it.

FASH84 · 09/07/2018 17:31

Probably can't reverse, we both always reverse on, so we can pull off forwards, I do as PP and put my hazards on if there's traffic so they know I'm not just pulling over

whatifI · 09/07/2018 17:32

Why not indicate right and then once outside your house on the road, reverse into your driveway?

TSSDNCOP · 09/07/2018 17:34

If you hit anything reversing off your drive your insurance company will point at the Highway Code and say you shouldn’t be reversing off your drive.

hidinginthenightgarden · 09/07/2018 17:36

My neighbour opposite has a 3 car drive but sometimes parks outside mine or next door neighbours. We don't have drives and have kids under 3 so its really annoying as we have to carry our kids and their shit down the street so he doesn't have to use his drive.
People are just selfish.

Minisoksmakehardwork · 09/07/2018 17:43

Do they actually have a dropped keen outside their house? I wonder if people have blocked them in before because they don't have one therefore people can park alongside their house.

Minisoksmakehardwork · 09/07/2018 17:43

*kerb

rightknockered · 09/07/2018 17:46

I live near a station that links to DLR so people are always trying to block my drive, or they park right up against it, so I can't safely reverse my car in. There fore I never use my drive and park in front of it, with half of my car directly in front of my drive. No choice.

Jux · 09/07/2018 17:51

I expect they like the grand sweep of their drive and want to keep it free of cars so they can enjoy pretending they're posh.

I have a friend who's parents' house was like that. It was a nice sight coming to it when it was empty, but they were considerate and parked their cars, and their visitors' carson the drives and in front of the house.

Have a chat with them. Tell the they're making it hard to get into your drive, that's a legitimate reason to be peeved and to make an approach. If they're nice you use the same conversation to mention that when they park outside your house, then your visitors can't.

ShapelyBingoWing · 09/07/2018 17:54

My parents have the exact same issue, bar the bird shit tree. Really pisses me off when I visit and can't park in front of their house because the neighbours' visitors are there.

That said, I actually know the reason they won't park on the drive, however pathetic I think it is...

They had the drive redone when they moved in several years ago and they're so precious about it that they still buff the fecking floor all this time later. Angry

Littleredboat · 09/07/2018 17:54

I reckon they don’t want to look out on their cars straight out of their window. Annoying though.

BUT I don’t understand what you’re saying about reversing in. Surely you would slow down and pull in on the right, indicating right as you do so. Then just wait a few seconds if it’s not clear, then reverse onto your drive?

CtrlCandCtrlV · 09/07/2018 17:54

I park in front of my house so other people don't. If there's really no space, I park on the drive.

Sallystyle · 09/07/2018 17:56

My drive is very narrow and a nightmare to get out of. The door we use backs onto the drive so it is difficult for the children to get their bikes out without scratching my car.

On top of that I live next door to a health centre with little parking so people like to park right outside my front door which pisses me off.

Sallystyle · 09/07/2018 17:58

My neighbour also used to have friends come round and they would park outside mine, leaving little room to get to my front door. I rarely use that door but that isn't the point. They also left me very little room to get out of my drive.

FriedGreenTomatoes123 · 09/07/2018 18:00

2 of my neighbours don't use their driveways either and I don't understand it.

The non driveway using neighbour that lives opposite actually parks outside our house instead and it really gets on my tits!!

Boulshired · 09/07/2018 18:06

We have to at weekend as people keep blocking the edge of our driveway so cannot get one car out without first moving the other. The neighbours have the same problem as well. Usually shoppers as its free parking with a scenic walk to town.

DesignStatement · 09/07/2018 18:14

OP ~ I understand.
However, if my new neighbours let me know I was causing a problem for them I'd certainly try and adjust my parking behaviour.
(but I don't park on the road anyway)

Original poster
Tomboytown · 09/07/2018 20:00

I might mention it when I get to know them better. They're lovely, v helpful and friendly. But I'm still in the first impressions phase, and I have to live here for the rest of my life!

OP posts:
BoomBoomsCousin · 09/07/2018 20:15

People park making it difficult to get into our drive too OP and I find it annoying, but there's not much to be done.

I used to be a police officer and dealt with a lot of residential parking complaints for some of that. Reasons I've come across for people not parking in their drives include:

  • keeping it free for visitors (though it looks like they block their drives, so this seems unlikely
  • because other people make it difficult to park on their drives
  • not liking having the car just in front of the window (i.e. wish they didn't have a drive)
But the number one most common reason seems to be that they are poor drivers and don't like reversing. And it sounds like your road might be a bit difficult to reverse into if cars won't wait for you to reverse into your own drive. Your neighbours may just have decided this is much easier and think, since they're parking in front of their own drives, that it shouldn't really impact anyone else.
SprogletsMum · 09/07/2018 20:20

When I first passed my test I spent ages on insurance comparison sites and found it was more expensive to insure my car if it was parked in my garage overnight than if it was on parked on the road overnight. Could be some variation of that maybe? I can't get my head around the sense of it though, surely a car parked in a locked garage is safer than one out on the road.

RiddleyW · 09/07/2018 20:31

Our house deeds say that we have to park in our garage or on our driveway.

I’m intrigued by this - the deeds curtail your right to park on public roads? Or is the road private?

Inebriatededna · 09/07/2018 20:36

We have a shared drive with easily enough parking for 3 cars but our neighbours complained to the council who upheld their complaint that legally nobody should park in a shared drive. So now they park one of their cars outside their house , one outside our house and I manhandle young children and shopping etc down the road past other neighbours who are probably wondering why our drive sits empty .

ReservoirDogs · 09/07/2018 20:39

You can parked on a shared drive but you can't park on a shared access.

I assume it was council housing if the council was deciding and probably just said that to keep the peace!

BackforGood · 09/07/2018 22:08

When I first passed my test I spent ages on insurance comparison sites and found it was more expensive to insure my car if it was parked in my garage overnight than if it was on parked on the road overnight.

How odd. Our cars regularly get damaged on the road, but they wouldn't on a driveway or in a garage. Seems really counter-intuitive.

Lemonlady22 · 09/07/2018 22:44

i have a drive, both my next door neighbours dont, they park outside my house tight up to my driveway entrance (they each have 2 cars) so i cant get in or out of my drive....fed up with it.....now the main road by us is having major work so people from that road are parking in my road ....cant park anywhere even though i have a drive....i busy watching a car ive never seen before parked by my drive to catch the person who left it there so i can have a rant!