AIBU - parking one!

[oblada]

So yesterday drove into work after dropping kids at school. I have a (paid for) permit for a carpark but it gets full up quickly on Wednesdays so I usually cannot park there. All the other carparks around are the same. So I have to resort to parking on the road on that day. I parked on a fairly busy but very wide road. Perfectly legally. Enough space on the road for cars to cross and trucks to pass. I went on the pavement slightly to make sure of that. Everyone else around does the same. By the same token i also made sure there was enough space on the pavement for prams and wheelchairs. There is a wide strip of grass after the pavement so there is plenty of space but in any event i ensured there was enough 'pavement space' for anything with wheels in effect. I was in between 2 dropped curbs for drives. Left space on each side to ensure i wasn't. Blocking or hindering anyone. Massive drives there so no issue. The houses on the road have huge front gardens so I'm not right in front of someone's window and certainly not preventing them from parking as they all have massive drives anyway. It's in Wilmslow (posh).

Despite the above someone saw fit to remove the tyre pressure cap from my front tyre and put a stone in the valve. I didn't see straight away so drove off then of course stopped. Had to call recovery and the tyre is ruined so i need so spend the money replacing it (quite a recent tyre too of course!).

So i expect IANBU in wishing a slow and extremely painful death to the mindless that who did that, no?
Anyone can shed any light on what exactly offended them by my parking there? It's not like i have any option!! I can't take the train to work, there is no other place to park other than more residential areas (further afield) where the same issue would occur. I have 3 carseats in plain view in the back. I'm obviously not doing this for fun, i need to go to work, i come too late to park because i take kids to school...

Drives me nuts! (Literally)

so a wheelchair can go "a bit on the grass" no thanks. leave the pavement free. and no they are not a standard size. some are really big.

Oh, and you having car seats makes no difference to how much your car obstructs me. We’ve all got stuff to deal with.

I just thought i was being considerate parking a bit on the kerb to ensure smooth traffic on the road since that leave still enough space for everyone on pavement. What else would ppl do??? The alternative is hindering/slowing traffic on road or parking right in front of ppl's houses in more residential places....

You were not being considerate, OP. Nobody should be having to go on the grass because you parked on the pavement.

As I’ve already said, if there isn’t enough room to park fully on the road without hindering other traffic it is not an appropriate or suitable parking space.

There is nothing wrong with parking right in front of houses.

please don't park on grass verges on the pavements I have them all down my road, and the twats at the local college park all over them. We no longer have nice grass lined pavements - just muddy strips of dirt, that is then driven all down the road - looks bloody awful. (Yes first world problems I know, I did however delight in one young lad that got his car stuck). But, I'd never damage someones car over it as there's nothing I can do about it to stop them - I don't own the grass verges. Get a dash cam if you plan on parking there again.

Colleagues have had their car keyed in for being in front of houses so can't win.
The wheelchair my relative uses (we use with him rather) is electric as he's 6 foot and rather heavy. So my guess should be pretty accurate on that.
No i wouldn't expect a wheelchair on the grass but a double buggy should survive. Some parts of the pavements in that place (before and after the area i park in) would be too narrow for a double buggy in any event so I don't think i was causing a major issue.
I don't know i still think i was doing the best i could in the circumstances.

Still criminal damage, you can tell police for insurance.
It would have been reasonable to leave you a note, not damage your car.

I didn't park on the grass.

In my london borough some of the painted spaces are actually half on the pavement and a few are actually fully on the pavement. Assume the council will have measured the space for a wheelchair or double buggy hopefully!

I am envisaging this type of verge in OPs case. And in some perfect google streetview, there are both tyre marks showing people have parked there; AND a wheelchair user on the path showing it is plenty wide enough for the biggest chair or double buggy!

(The damage caused to the verge is another matter though)

SeaShells - OP said the grass verge was on the other side of the pavement, not adjacent to the road! She parked on hard pavement!

OP if everyone parks like that and there's room for other cars to get past and people on the pavement, then I fail to see a problem.

Cuntish behaviour to let down your tyre.

I got the impression it’s pavement adjacent to the road and then grass between the pavement and front gardens which seems an odd setup.

It really shows how selfish people are that they expect people who the pavement is there for to walk in the mud so as that they can conveniently park their car

I don't know i still think i was doing the best i could in the circumstances.

You weren’t. You were parked inappropriately.

Colleagues have had their car keyed in for being in front of houses so can't win.

Ahh, that’s what it comes down to. You didn’t want your car keyed so rather than park without obstructing anyone you thought fuck it and selfishly parked on the pavement.

Parking in front of someone’s house (obviously not over a dropped curb or on double yellows, on the pavement or the grass) isn’t obstructing anyone. Parking on the pavement is obstructing people.

I live in London, and we have signs on the roads near us instructing cars to park with 2 wheels on the pavement and 2 on the road

Get proper dashcam that records with movement when car is not on.
Also ensure you have a tyre pump in your boot and always check them before you drive off and inflate if necessary.
People are assholes. You just need to cover yourself which ever way you can.

I love these threads where people object to others' parking on the pavement.

You do realise lots of roads simply aren't built for the amount of cars on the roads these days? On my road, houses don't have garages or drives, it's terraced houses with on-street parking only. If every house has one car and parked fully on the road, you wouldn't be able to drive a normal car down the street, let alone an ambulance or a fire engine.

Every single street in our town is the same, unless you park in the town centre which you can't do without a residents permit, or without moving your car every two hours to avoid a fine.

Where do you propose we all park? The next town with free on-road parking is seven miles away!

It was road then wide pavement then strip of grass then front gardens.
There was enough space on the pavement for ppl to walk no problem, for prams and in my view for an electric wheelchair of the style i know. If they couldn't fit next to me then they would have had more issues down the road where the pavement is very narrow (no parking there anyway as double yellows). I can't vouch for double buggies i admit. But at least i felt confident that cars could still drive smoothly on the road that way.
It was legal. In my view it was morally fine but i see others disagree.
And yes i don't want my car keyed in so i tried to park in a way that wouldnt trouble anyone. If i was obstructing pedestrians I'd definitely risk getting the car keyed in surely!

Yes lots of people park on the pavements but I’m not one of them, my working hours and childcare are arranged to ensure that I have plenty of time to be able to park safely and legally.

Parking on the pavement isn't illegal though.

How do you know this was a comment on your parking rather than common or garden mindless vandalism?

You went up on the pavement so I have no sympathy. You have the road, the pavement is for pedestrians.

As you can see above - the pavement isn't always just for pedestrians!

Yes could be mindless vandalism but given the set up i doubt it.

You went up on the pavement so I have no sympathy.

But it's not illegal to park on the pavement, so why are people on this thread advocating vandalism (which is illegal) as a response?

Whoever did it was deeply unpleasant.

That said people park on the pavement outside my house and I blooming own it

Possibility of a similar scenario?

Unfortunately looks like you'll have to park further afield - why not make friends with the house owner and come to an arrangement - I've done that at DD's new school. We have a cheery wave, I park reasonably.

And of course I could have parked and not bothered because I was legally parking. However a quick "I'm not inconveniencing you by parking here am I? Do let me know if it's a problem" meant they were perfectly pleasant, said "no" and "thanks for asking".

Jacques - the house is very far away at the end of a massive garden lol its posh over there!
I'll either park right in front of houses in other areas or see if i can change my hours. I genuinely thought this was the best all road. It was still a 10mins trek to my work.

We had one around here who'd rip the windscreen wipers off cars parked on the road along the side of her house. No wheels on pavement or anything - she just seemed to think she'd bought the house, the street her house was fronted onto and the side street her house also joined onto as well.

YANBU but unfortunately many of the above posters either haven't read your OP properly or don't understand the Highway code and laws relating to obstruction of the highways.

www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/parking.html

As long as you weren't obstructing the pavement for wheelchair users etc then it is perfectly legal to park two wheels on the pavement. If you were parked fully on the pavement and caused an obstruction to the road traffic (as someone suggested ), that would not be ok.