Petty neighbour - parking related

[Snufkins]

Not sure why I’m posting on here or whether it’s me being unreasonable or the ‘neighbour’

I live in a new build development, it’s not a cul de sac as such but there are other houses at the back and bottom and fields at the top. So technically anyone can pass through on walks.

My house is opposite a long road which makes a T junction, a sharp left takes you to the rest of the houses and a right to the few others. DP parks on pavement as at the moment we have a single driveway, cars can get very tight round the bend especially if icy so it’s all we’re able to do at the moment (we’re not in London so not illegal?).

A couple on their daily walk (I don’t know whether they live on the same block) have taken to slamming DP’s wing mirror when walking past. It’s showing some damage. I think I have seen them walk through my front garden during summer several times too to get past. The road is quiet, they could easily cross the road but there is room to walk on the pavement just in single file. There are cars and a van parked nearby on pavement and they don’t do the same to them.
We’re forking out over £10k to sort out our bog of a garden which has taken a while to save and DP now says we need to extend the driveway at the same time to stop this happening, can’t really afford both!

I instead want to confront these people but are we being unreasonable or them? I want to say we have CCTV (we don’t) to put them off but I am frustrated they are picking on us, especially walking on my property.

Yabu twice, first for not including a diagram and secondly for parking on the pavement. Pavements are for pedestrians, and no, they should not have to walk into the road in order to accommodate your parking preferences.

But you're blocking the pavement with your parking- what if they had a pushchair or used a wheel chair, how would they get past?

Be considerate

YABU. Stop parking on the pavement.

I mean they’re entitled to be pissed if they think the car is in an awkward place, but that doesn’t entitle them to damage it! I’d prob try and catch them causing damage and just report them tbh. Or if your mirrors go in then maybe push them in when you park up and see if it deters them? I’d maybe put a stay off grass sign too - see if it works.

Yeah, damaging your property really isnt okay! Have you seen them do it? Is it definitely on purpose or do they have a pram etc that they need to get past that is causing some scuffs?

I cant 100% get my head around the layout but blocking the path way doesnt sound ideal either. Is there no parking nearby that would inconvenience others less?

Good luck!

"DP parks on pavement as at the moment we have a single driveway"

Is DP's parking making it difficult for pedestrians to use the pavement?

"I think I have seen them walk through my front garden during summer several times too to get past"

You "think" or they actually did and you have evidence to prove this?

It’s against the Highway Code wherever you live.

www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/legal/parking-on-the-pavement/

Your neighbours are not being petty.

Put cameras in the car surely with motion detectors if you want to catch them at it....

But maybe reconsider where you park.

Everybody here is unreasonable. If they can pass without damaging the car then they should but the car shouldn't be on the pavement. I've had to walk in the road too many times to accommodate people's parking choices and nearly been hit more than once. I don't sympathise with them much as they can walk single file and they're singling you out but you're putting pram and wheelchair users in danger.

You are blocking the pavement. Pavements are for pedestrians. I doubt reporting them for damage when you've been parking illegally would get you far. If your partner is worried about people hitting his car, he needs to park somewhere else. Not on the pavement.

“ cars can get very tight round the bend especially if icy so it’s all we’re able to do at the moment (we’re not in London so not illegal?).”

All this is wrong. It’s not ok to park on the pavement unless there are signs up permitting it. It’s also not ‘all you're able to do’ either, if it’s not safe to park on the road outside your house he will have to park further away and walk a bit. No one has a legal right to park bang outside their house.

Plaster some Vaseline or something similar on the wing mirror 😈

I don’t honk you should be parking on the pavement though. I don’t understand why you think it’s ok?

So obviously they shouldn't damage the car, but you shouldn't have bought a house with a single drive and two cars, and not have thought about this!

It's really not ok to expect people to cross the road because you've parked your car there.

What are you doing to the garden - I think your DP is right that you need a drive at the same time, if at all possible - this problem isn't going to go away.

arghhhh don’t park on the pavement, it is so annoying.

Definitely you being unreasonable not them.

For clarity there is room for a wheelchair or pram which the couple don’t use. The car is only partially on the pavement and if we were to park it elsewhere it’d be in front of someone’s house rather than my own. From my own window i can see 4 other cars parked on the pavement so I’m not the only one. But they don’t do the same to them, we’ve seen!

YABU. I fucking hate cars parked on pavements. I squeeze past them with my dog angrily looking into the house its parked outside. It times like that I wish I still had a buggy to scrap past the inconsiderate arses.

If there is room for people in wheelchairs or with buggies to get past you aren't being unreasonable. If not. Then you are

Our old neighbours used to park partly on the pavement for similar reasons and while I was frustrated I didn't bother to raise it - until my disabled nephew tried to walk from his car to my house using his frame and couldn't get through.
Luckily my neighbour was apologetic and altered her parking so this didn't happen again.

YABU to park on the pavement. Your DP needs to park further from home and walk if he cannot park his car decently without causing an obstruction to passing cars or pedestrians.
You'll find the slamming the wing mirror (which isn't ok) and walking on your garden are both results of your parking. Move the car and both issues will be resolved.

X post. Then yes they are being petty. Its cars with all 4 wheels leaving hardly any room I hate

YABU to part on the pavement. It’s not for cars and causing damage over time as well as well as making in impossible at times for those in wheelchairs or with prams to get by.

No police officer is going to do anything about your wing mirror being pushed in as pedestrians get by. They might do you for parking on the path though.

Also if you decide to go the camera route make sure you have signage and expect they may well and legally can ask for all footage that contains them in it. It will also need to be correctly dated and time stamped.

They are being unreasonable IF they are deliberately causing damage to the car but YABVVVU parking on the pavement!

Cant he just push his wing mirrors in?

Definitely being unreasonable for blocking the pavement, I do a lot of walking and fed up with cars making it difficult to get past. Are you putting the wingmirrors in?