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.

@VivaMiltonKeynes the people who park infront of my house aren't CF though. I bought this house knowing there was no private parking and no drive,
As long as they pay road tax that car yesterday had a right to park outside my house.

YANBU.

She's too cheap to pay for a driveway, so she doesn't get the privileges or the protections of having one.

She needs to apply to drop the kerb if she wants to write her notes from a position of authority on the topic.

If the kerb isn't dropped then it not a drive. It is actually illegal for them to cross the kerb and use their 'drive' if the kerb isn't dropped.

You're not being unreasonable at all, if they haven't bothered to apply to get the kerb dropped and are illegal parking then they can't complain about people parking in front.

The Highways Act 1980 – Section 184, makes it an offence to drive a vehicle across a footway, or verge, where there is no proper vehicle crossover. ... They include both the physical lowering of the kerb (the dropped kerb) and a permission to allow a vehicle to cross the public footway.

I would park there again. And sit in the car. Hand her the print offs regarding what she needs to spend to get her drive..
Tight cow..

If the kerb isn't dropped and they are driving over it they are unlawfully driving on a footpath.

*Do I need a dropped kerb?
If you intend to drive a vehicle over the footway into your driveway off a highway, then you will need a dropped kerb. If you do not have dropped kerb, you must not drive over the footway. If you do so, you are breaking the law and enforcement action could be taken to prevent such practice. Furthermore:

You may become liable from a collision with a pedestrian
You may become liable for damage to the footway
You may face considerable costs as a result of damage to any utility apparatus under the footway*

www.tameside.gov.uk/kerbdropping#:~:text=If%20you%20intend%20to%20drive,taken%20to%20prevent%20such%20practice.

I’d phone then council and ask if you no longer require dropped kerbs to be able to use your “drive” as the arseholes/residents in 69 cockslapper crescent haven’t got one and bitch if anyone argues it.

(I’m a PA bitch and don’t give a shit)

If people choose to convert their front garden into an off road parking place it is a risk they take. They do not own the road directly in front of their garden unless they have applied for a dropped kerb . Definitely not your mistake!

I don't have a dropped kerb but it's still obviously a drive. I know it's not illegal what you did but I would still say it's courteous to not park in a space like that

They can have a drive without a dropped kerb. We paid £1500 a few years ago to drop out kerb but people still park across it (we are close to a school so people take it upon themselves to block my driveway!). It bloody irritates me.

That said, because the kerb hasn't been dropped, you have every right to park there.

@Thumbs

We have pavements on this street so yes there is a curb to be dropped, But it is not common to have drives on this street so the curb wasn't dropped so I didn't think it'd be a drive. On a driving test, you're not classed as blocking a drive unless it's a dropped curb?

But they aren't talking about taking you to court, they just left a polite note, requesting that you park further down. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I'm not sure why you're worried about the legal ramifications?

@Looneytune253 yes and I won't park there again now I know but surely you can't expect people not to park outside your house or if theyre in a rush to analyse your front garden to double check you use it as a drive because you haven't paid for that priveledge?

Yes legally they should drop their curb. However with that often costing £1000+ (where I am anyway) it's not always affordable for people.

However it's pretty obvious when you're parking over a driveway. YABU. You obviously knew you did it and now feel stupid because someone pulled you up on it.

YANBU

Any chance of a pic Op?

Not saying that this applies to you, OP, but it's surprising what people who are desperate to park don't see.

Many people have parked across my Dad's drive (dropped kerb) & said when asked to move that there is no car.

No, that's because it's in the bloody garage at end of said (straight) drive & visible when parking across drive!

Sometimes even met with "you have a drive but use the garage?"

Asked in utter disbelief!

The beauty of that being 2 cars can still park on the drive, thus freeing up the road even more-in the proper places, of course!

@QuizzlyBear i never said I was worried about legal ramifications? Where have you got that from?
I found it annoying because apart from 2 houses on this street, the houses do not have drives. I can't stop people parking outside my house, the road outside my house is not mine.
Yet these neighbours for some reason think they can stop people parking outside their house, yet no other house on the street apart from the dropped curbs, have private parking or drives

"However it's pretty obvious when you're parking over a driveway."

Indeed-there's a dropped kerb to allow access.

This happened to me once. A neighbour hammered in my door aggressively complaining that I had parked across her drive. I was in a resident's parking bay and there was no dropped kerb. She was being unreasonable. I said nothing as her and her partner were a little strange and would argue, in the street, at 3 in the morning. Lots of alcohol I suspect. She ended up spray painting graffiti ON HER OWN HOUSE. There's one to not antagonise. I digress.

Loads of houses around mine have drives but no dropped kerb. Its normally pretty obvious if they have a drive or not, whether the kerb is dropped or not.

Im with your dp on this one

@liveitwell

Yes legally they should drop their curb. However with that often costing £1000+ (where I am anyway) it's not always affordable for people.

However it's pretty obvious when you're parking over a driveway. YABU. You obviously knew you did it and now feel stupid because someone pulled you up on it.

If they can't afford it then they must park on the road.

It is not a driveway without a dropped kerb as a car has no legal access to it from the road.

The only person who should feel stupid is the home owner who thinks their paved front garden is a drive.

I thought that when you have a dropped kerb put in they dig out the pavement too as it isn't designed to have cars driven over it and therefore needs strengthening.

So her having a drive with no dropped kerb means she is at risk of damaging the pavement.

Lots of people have front gardens that have been paved over, this does not make them a drive. She needs to stump up to have the kerb dropped and the pavement strengthened.

Wasn't there a case where a chap kept driving over the pavement and couldn't have a dropped kerb due to it exiting onto a busy road and the council then erected a railing outside his house to stop him using his "drive"?

@diddl i'd never park in front of a dropped kerb so people who park in front of your dad's house are in the wrong as it's a dropped kerb.
But these people don't have a dropped kerb.
The street doesn't even have low pavements, the pavements are quite high so you can't even erm and arr about whether it's a dropped kerb. but they park their white van on there apparantly

However it's pretty obvious when you're parking over a driveway. YABU. You obviously knew you did it and now feel stupid because someone pulled you up on it.

Well yes you do, because the dropped kerb gives it away. The OP has done nothing wrong why on earth would she feel stupid??

If it doesn’t have a dropped kerb I’d be knocking on their door letting them know that your fully taxed, insured and mot’d car is as much allowed to park there as any other legal parking spot.
Please don’t be bullied into parking somewhere inconvenient for you to satisfy your idiot neighbours.

If they do have a dropped kerb and you blocked their drive, then you are in the wrong. Only you know if you blocked their drive or the “patio with aspirations” (terrific quote)

I’m the sort of cantankerous old git that would make it my life’s work to park across their patio with aspirations for the rest of this year, but that’s just me.

@VivaMiltonKeynes

Legally it may not be a drive but you're a CF if you do so .

Why should OP not park there? It is illegal to have off road parking without dropping kerb ...it is a huge safety risk for pedestrians.We live where it is off road parking and yes it is annoying ,but why should someone have the guarantee of parking outside their house at the risk of injury to other people? They also wouldn’t be insured if they caused an accident.