Driveway blocked

[N51BU]

I went to bed very late for me last night (00:15). I noticed a car had parked directly across our driveway so there was absolutely no way we would be able to get out in an emergency

In the last 18 mths we have had to take DD2 to hospital twice as she hit her head resulting in an awful bump in seconds and another time she was struggling to breathe

I checked the cameras and the car first parked there at 23:30 so it had been there forty five minutes before I noticed. I didn't recognise the car or driver and they walked off out of sight. I went to bed a little on edge. What are you meant to do in an emergency? I can only think call a taxi. I guess I could go knocking doors with lights on but that would be very time consuming

Does your driveway get blocked often?
Call a taxi or ambulance depending on the emergency

Is it still there now ? If it is, ring the police and say you want to get out and can’t.

I would put a note under the windscreen wiper in these circumstances. It'll be someone thoughtless who thinks it's okay because they'll be gone in the morning and hasn't considered they could be inconveniencing you.

If it's still there I'd leave a note. Thoughtless thing to do.

What are you meant to do in an emergency?

What would you do if you couldn't drive/didn't have a car?

The person is very unreasonable to block your drive, of course, and I'd be pissed off about it too, but I wouldn't be on edge and thinking about hospital, etc. Plus in a real emergency you'd call 999 and an ambulance would come, surely.

If it's blocking your vehicle in then it's illegal. You can ring the police, they'll contact the drier and tell them to shift it.

If your drive is empty, it's not illegal and they may or may not do anything.

It's something about 'obstructing access to the public highway'

What I would do in an emergency is sit with the hand on the horn til they came

And as a last resort I'd drive into them knocking them out the way

(I have a shit car I don't care about)

In an emergency 999 definitely.

Is it still there?

@N51BU

I went to bed very late for me last night (00:15). I noticed a car had parked directly across our driveway so there was absolutely no way we would be able to get out in an emergency

In the last 18 mths we have had to take DD2 to hospital twice as she hit her head resulting in an awful bump in seconds and another time she was struggling to breathe

I checked the cameras and the car first parked there at 23:30 so it had been there forty five minutes before I noticed. I didn't recognise the car or driver and they walked off out of sight. I went to bed a little on edge. What are you meant to do in an emergency? I can only think call a taxi. I guess I could go knocking doors with lights on but that would be very time consuming

Having similar issues with my neighbour, it's good not to park across a driveway, manners and so on etc. But in actual fact, beyond your boundary, unless on street parking reg's exist, paint on road, signage etc, it is a free for all, and folks can park just as they like. Too many cars, too small streets now in the main. It will only get worse.

That’s not correct - as long as the dropped curb is legal, it is unlawful to block a car in.

If you've got the "H" on the road over your drive you can call the non-emergency number and the police will try and contact the driver. They might not rush to it at midnight on a Saturday but they'll help you this morning in my experience

I guess in a genuine emergency you’d ring 999 for an ambulance and tell them your car is blocked in your driveway by some selfish twat.

Just leave a note. It's not a police matter. Annoying though and I understand that you might need the car.

Also it would make a very good local Facebook group post to shame them.

You can ring the police, I had to once as someone completely blocked our drive, knocked around and no one knew who it belonged to and I had to take my newborn to the doctors, police sorted it out for us. It was really stressful, wouldn’t have worried so much if we didn’t need to go out but I was a first time mum with a poorly baby and had no idea if it would be gone before I needed to leave.

The same as people who don’t have a car or who might have had a glass of wine - taxi, or friend/family or ambulance if it was an emergency. However it’s still rude to park over your drive way and I’m quite nosey about wondering what’s happening for someone to do it for a bit of time during the night during covid times.

Its rude of them, what if you had an elderly relative or friend that needed your assistance during the night? They dont know your circumstances. Note on the window asking them not to do it again.

I'd set their alarm off if I needed to get out. Usually you just have to try to open the door. If it's a medical emergency then call an ambulance. Otherwise call the police to get them to move it.

Another one to say the police will move them. My friend was blocked in once by a car and she's air ambulance staff (marked vehicle). She called the police and they used the Reg details to contact the owner. When the owner didn't answer they towed it! They would have done this regardless of her having a marked car but i think it may have helped!

It sounds like they thought you were asleep and were planning to move it before you woke up. I’d be absolutely raging regardless of whether there was an emergency or not it’s the principle of it!

I thought it was illegal to park over a drive and block a car in but not if there is no car there?

Not everyone has the money for a taxi. If your car is on the drive and it is blocked in I would leave a note and take pictures for the local fb group.

I forgot to add due to the layout of some driveways and roads that an ambulance crew may not be able to safely stretcher someone out if an emergency required an ambulance.

It's always rude to block some random's driveway. I'd have taken a photo of it and the license plates. Name and shame on local FB page.

@Steptoeshorse1965

It isn’t a free for all. It is illegal to block somebody else’s access to the highway, so if there is a car in the drive, it is illegal to block it in. If there were no car on the drive already, then somebody could park across it, preventing somebody from having access to their drive.

@Aprilx Ok, so where exactly is this regulation or law you speak of?

Civil law or the presumably the road traffic act?? Most seem to forget that what is outside the boundary has nothing to do with them. I have neighbours who act silly when anyone parks outside their house too, the also seem to forget that the public road is called such, because it does not belong to them. It is a free for all, unless regs or paint on the road/signage tell you otherwise. Unofficial signs, self imposed cones or painting fake bays etc, now that's illegal.