To think if you don't have a dropped kerb you should accept that you can't always park outside your house

[Sayhellotothethings]

That's it really.

I know a lot of people that have started huge parking wars with their neighbours because they feel they should be able to park outside their home, but don't have a dropped kerb.

To the point where they have stopped being friends with neighbours. One family I know sit at their window all day waiting for space to move their cars, and have blocked people in on purpose.

AIBU to think if you don't have a dropped kerb you should kind of just get over it? Unless you have exceptional circumstances which mean you kind of need to be directly outside, in which case chat to the neighbours but still do not act like you are entitled to the space.

My parents neighbours get upset when I park outside my parents house- as they have to park one of their 4 cars elsewhere. I find it quite amusing.

I lived in a street like this with a mix of dropped and non dropped kerbs and have to say everyone behaved reasonably. No cones or curtain twitching! Inevitably though the tide turned towards an almost complete street if dropped kerbs. If you’re not in that club you can’t expect to have protected parking

I find this is much worse on roads with lots of parking. My road is tightly packed terraced houses with a shopping street and a primary school near by. Parking can be a bit of a nightmare and I'm rarely bang outside my house. No bother here, everyone accepts it. My mums road is a nice, wide, quiet cul-de-sac with drives and lots of on street parking space. Lots of people on her road get very funny about anyone parking outside their houses even when their car is on the drive (and in one case they have no car at all). Odd.

YANBU- I agree with you OP

I agree. But then I’m a Mumsnetters worst nightmare - when I go into town I park my car on a residential street nearby instead of paying to park. I never considered this to be a problem until I read on here that it infuriates people. And, even worse, if I go for dinner and have a couple of drinks, I’ll leave it there... OVERNIGHT! Du du duuuuuuhhhh!!! I am being unreasonable according to Mumsnet but I don’t care and I’m not sorry I’m also not stopping because I don’t want to pay £5 each way for a bus or £10 each way for a taxi 🤷‍♀️

Boom45 I actually agree. I live by a school, we just accept that sometimes we can't park and have to walk. The only time I don't is if I have to park miles away with a baby and it's raining, but then I don't plan to get back to the house at school pick up time on those days.

I know of a couple of roads that actually have car parks at either end (free to use) but everyone still kicks off.

EleanorShellstrop100 I do it too! Pay my road tax so am just as entitled to parking on a residential street as the residents (unless it's residents only permits obviously).

What annoys me is those people who open up their front gardens, don't drop the kerb but moan when people park across their 'drive'.

No drop kerb no drive.

Do you mean driveway or dropped kerb? I wouldn't park on a dropped kerb as it makes life difficult for wheelchair users.

@EleanorShellstrop100 and this is why you didn't get into the good place!

There's a car parked outside my house right now I think they have gone on holiday. It's irrational but it infuriates me!

I do agree.

But I think there should be a tax on dropped kerbs. To gain access to their drive people with dropped kerbs are essentially permanently making part of the public road unavailable for parking and other road users who have paid the same amount of tax to the DVLA.

You can't block a dropped kerb though, even your own.

It's also there for wheelchair users/pushchairs.

For a property we rent out the council issues a special permit for parking over the dropped curb, the house doesn't qualify for a. Normal residential permit for the rest of the street

I fully agree.

The most infuriating thing is my neighbour, who at times insists on parking his car in front of his house despite having a driveway to park it on (which is empty as they only have one car, no visitors). This in isolation is fine, as is his right and I wouldn't care if he parked correctly.

The annoying part is that he purposely parks far from his dropped curb so that when people park behind him in front of our house (we have two spaces off the road but a single drop) it forces them to park so that they normally overhang our dropped curb (not enough to block) making our lives difficult. He also has the audacity to come out of his house to tell people to reverse away from his drive even though they are in no way close to it.

I've chalked it up to having 'one of those' neighbours. My husband delights every so often in doing the same parking shite to him.

We are not on each others' Christmas card lists.

How often do you need to block someone's garden for this to even be a talking point?

Do you mean driveway or dropped kerb? I wouldn't park on a dropped kerb as it makes life difficult for wheelchair users.

Both as I doubt you'd park in front of a stranger's driveway either. Round here if somebody has a drive they tend to also have a dropped kerb.

How often do you need to block someone's garden for this to even be a talking point?

You'd be surprised how often I have to hear about this from different people in different households. Such a first world problem.

We have residents parking. It’s heaven. If you tried that in my street Eleanor you would get ticketed. We pay £110 a year for the privilege and it’s worth every penny. Recently extended it to weekends - result.

I agree! As every street has that busy neighbour who feels they own 'that part' of the road. But it is a shame, as dropped Kerbs are such an eyesore, I feel you can't beat a neat street with lots of green front gardens.
We are kind of fortunate, as we all have drives for 2 to 3 cars and a garage, but the way they are designed, the drives are off sight on the street and we all have large green front gardens. They were purpose built like that 32 years ago.

We have residents parking but the relevant area is quite wide so we have people parking outside our house, usually where people have multiple cars. We also have a school nearby so at times there are a lot of people sitting in cars ‘waiting’. It drives my husband mad - I couldn’t care less!

YANBU.

Luckily my neighbours are not twats and we all rub along nicely. The only real problem we get round here is from visitors who don't realise that you can only park on one side of the road due to a hopper bus - which then can't get through (and sits there honking until the offender moves).

I don’t see the problem. Unless you are parking on or across someone’s driveway or on a disabled spot without a blue badge (or anywhere illegal. You should park where convienient.

Technically 'Road Tax' was abolished in 1937. The Vehicle Excise Duty you pay goes into central government to be spent how they see fit, not necessarily put back into the road network.

And, even worse, if I go for dinner and have a couple of drinks, I’ll leave it there... OVERNIGHT! Du du duuuuuuhhhh!!! I am being unreasonable according to Mumsnet but I don’t care and I’m not sorry grin I’m also not stopping because I don’t want to pay £5 each way for a bus or £10 each way for a taxi 🤷‍♀️

I know of more than one person who hasn't driven after a few drinks but then driven the next day and been done for being over the limit. We were always told it takes about 18hours for alcohol to clear the system.

To gain access to their drive people with dropped kerbs are essentially permanently making part of the public road unavailable for parking and other road users who have paid the same amount of tax to the DVLA

Roads aren’t car parks. Roads are for driving on. The people with dropped kerbs and driveways would be on the roads trying to park if they didn’t have them anyway.

Plus what you pay in VED has nothing to do with it. Plenty of people pay nothing, or very little, because their car has low emissions.