Note left on car after parking outside someone's house.

[Thumbs]

Yesterday, a car was parked outside my house and there was no space on the pavement along my house so I parked around the corner.
There was no dropped curb so naturally presumed I could park there.

Spent my day doing things around the house when DH comes in saying there's a note on the car and that i've parked in front of their drive.
I read the note and it said something along the lines of
"Please don't park across our drive again, there are plenty of spaces on this street. Thanks."

I have never met this person despite living on the same street and never really took notice of their house to have known they have a "drive". Most of the houses on my street do not have drives apart from the odd one who has had their kerbs dropped.

But I was always led to believe that a 'drive' always has a dropped kerb. There is no dropped kerb outside their house.
Anyway I moved the car but DH told me it's obviously a drive even though it doesnt have a dropped kerb and he apologised to the owners of the house.

I feel stupid now because according to DH it was obvious.

If there is no dropped curb and the owner of the house mounts the pavement to access their ‘drive’ then that’s not legal and it’s them in the wrong

@FelicisNox

YABVU. I'm not interested in the pompous attitude of "if you don't have a dropped kerb it's not really a drive"...... dropped kerb or not, if they have a driveway on their property then they have a driveway period.

Next time look where you're parking and don't park in the entrance to someone's house because that's what you did.

If they don't have a dropped kerb then they don't have a drive.

That's not pompous, it's fact.

As long as you didn't block anyone in, it doesn't matter. People are incredibly possessive about parking spaces, but no-one has a right to them.

@FelicisNox

YABVU. I'm not interested in the pompous attitude of "if you don't have a dropped kerb it's not really a drive"...... dropped kerb or not, if they have a driveway on their property then they have a driveway period.

Next time look where you're parking and don't park in the entrance to someone's house because that's what you did.

I’m not interested in the pompous attitude of people who expect people to not park legally on the road because they’re too stupid to understand the law and too lazy / entitled to pay to drop the kerb and park legally. This is why I wouldn’t go out of the way to avoid parking there, just to watch entitled arseholes like this fizz and froth knowing they’re in the wrong and nothing can be done

No dropped kerb, no official drive. My neighbour has something similar and often leaves notes on people's car. Other neighbours have informed them it isn't a drive and they say its common courtesy not to park there. Which is funny, as they have blocked my drive, several times, which has a dropped kerb and they are the least considerate neighbour I have ever had....

Even a dropped kerb is actually unenforceable...

YANBU op they had no right to stick a note on your car it’s not a driveway if it doesn’t have a dropped kerb they are breaking the highway act driving over it and could get a fine from the council they can cause damage to the pavement by driving over it that’s how pavements end up uneven.

sgssurfacing.co.uk/dropped-kerb-and-driveways/

It's been illegal since 1835 to drive on or over a pavement. Highway Code rule 145

www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/general-rules-techniques-and-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-103-to-158

Oh 🤬 just dont park there again, not because your wrong just because its not worth the hassle. Apparently you can park across someone's drive anyway it's not legal to own the road but life is too short

For reasons best known to the council the dropped kerb stops not at the edge of our drive but about halfway across It's a normal sized drive (not double width or anything) and is obviously a drive. The amount of people who park up to the end of the drop without actually looking and considering that someone may need to actually get out/in amazes me. Luckily I have a tiny car and can usually manoeuvre,but it's tricky when you factor in a fence post on one side and a telegraph pole on the other!

I've lived here 4 years and only left a (nice) note once though.

@FelicisNox

YABVU. I'm not interested in the pompous attitude of "if you don't have a dropped kerb it's not really a drive"...... dropped kerb or not, if they have a driveway on their property then they have a driveway period.

Next time look where you're parking and don't park in the entrance to someone's house because that's what you did.

I’m guessing that you have one of these patio’s with delusions of grandeur, from that response.

Nobody is being pompous. They are stating the law. It is illegal to drive over the pavement to access your makeshift driveway. There is a reason why you are supposed to apply for a dropped kerb. Without one you can be causing damage to the pavement and utilities underneath, in addition to safety issues.

So the OP did NOT park in front of the entrance to someone’s house, because the people who lived there didn’t pay to make the pavement the entrance to their house. They have no legal right to mount the pavement, to park their car on their pretend driveway.

She parked on a public road, where she had the legal right to do so.

It really doesn’t matter what your opinion is, because the law says differently and they have more clout than you.

Not only can you park there but if she accesses her drive she’s breaking the law.

www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1005838/parking-driveway-dropped-kerb-pavement-fine-bill

I do only drive in and out over the dropped bit btw. We wanted to get it moved but the council want to charge the best part of £200 to even look at moving it (it would literally be taking out one kerb stone and moving the sloped bit along) never mind the cost of actually doing it. They have also indicated we'd be fined for doing it ourselves.

If there's no dropped kerb that would indicate they don't have the permission from the local authority to cross the foot way to get to their drive!
If the local authority were to find out about this the people who are crossing the foot way to get to their drive would need to apply for retrospective consent which can be very costly! 😬

Its not a drive if no dropped kerb. I am fairly certain that it's illegal to drive on the pavement (which they would have to do to access their drive) unless parking on the pavement is permitted or the kerb is dropped.

I have a parking bay on my property but don't have a dropped kerb... Builder of street never applied to council for it, person who had house before me obviously never applied either. It's very difficult to drive into the bay as people park in a way that allows very little space to manouevre so I just don't use it. But, it bugs the hell out of me when people block the access!!!
You're making excuses trying to justify your actions but you have the answer - your husband said it was obvious it was a drive and went to apologise to the home owners!

If they park there then it's their drive, dropped curb or not.
Please dont tell them to get their curb dropped as some PPs have suggested!
You didnt notice so genuineoversight and their note was polite = no drama.
Slightly irritating your DH got involved though!

I wouldn't give it any more thought.

@galaxybuttons

I have a parking bay on my property but don't have a dropped kerb... Builder of street never applied to council for it, person who had house before me obviously never applied either. It's very difficult to drive into the bay as people park in a way that allows very little space to manouevre so I just don't use it. But, it bugs the hell out of me when people block the access!!! You're making excuses trying to justify your actions but you have the answer - your husband said it was obvious it was a drive and went to apologise to the home owners!

Christ the utter entitlement of people is hilarious!

You don’t have a parking bay, you have a patch of land with some slabs on it. You literally said the builder never applied to the council for permission (I’m assuming to drop kerb) therefore you have no legal access to the land and no access can be blocked. OP doesn’t need to justify parking legally on a street. The only people in the wrong here are you, the neighbour and all the other entitled fuckwits who think their concrete gardens are anything other than that.

We applied for a dropped kerb at work and the council said no. It's very possible that the builder did apply and they said no, or he didn't apply because he knew that they would say no. Either way you do not have a parking bay.

@galaxybuttons

I have a parking bay on my property but don't have a dropped kerb... Builder of street never applied to council for it, person who had house before me obviously never applied either. It's very difficult to drive into the bay as people park in a way that allows very little space to manouevre so I just don't use it. But, it bugs the hell out of me when people block the access!!! You're making excuses trying to justify your actions but you have the answer - your husband said it was obvious it was a drive and went to apologise to the home owners!

You don’t gave a parking bay. You have a slabbed garden.

If you want to make it a “parking bay” you have to go to the effort, and expense, of applying to the council for a dropped kerb.

YANBU in saying it is not a drive if there is not a dropped kerb. However, I would probably still agree with your DH.

If someone parks a car on their frontage (by driving over the kerb) I don't park outside their house, even though I know it is not a proper drive. I don't do it because I don't want to get my car deliberately scratched.

@galaxybuttons

I have a parking bay on my property but don't have a dropped kerb... Builder of street never applied to council for it, person who had house before me obviously never applied either. It's very difficult to drive into the bay as people park in a way that allows very little space to manouevre so I just don't use it. But, it bugs the hell out of me when people block the access!!! You're making excuses trying to justify your actions but you have the answer - your husband said it was obvious it was a drive and went to apologise to the home owners!

Well firstly you don’t have a parking bay.

Secondly, if you don’t even use it, then why get angry if someone blocks access to it? Seems futile for something you don’t even use and aren’t legally entitled to use.

If they park there then it's their drive, dropped curb or not.
Wrong.
If they drive over the pavement without a dropped kerb they are breaking the law, and they don't have a drive.

@galaxybuttons

I have a parking bay on my property but don't have a dropped kerb... Builder of street never applied to council for it, person who had house before me obviously never applied either. It's very difficult to drive into the bay as people park in a way that allows very little space to manouevre so I just don't use it. But, it bugs the hell out of me when people block the access!!! You're making excuses trying to justify your actions but you have the answer - your husband said it was obvious it was a drive and went to apologise to the home owners!

Why don’t you apply for a dropped kerb then?

It's illegal.
No dropped curb no driveway. They need reporting if using as a driveway.

I think you need a hobby.