To bump this car out of the way?

[GenericUsername404]

Every Monday I need to get my van out to pick up my dc from school and take them to their club. Other days I use my car but on Mondays it’s kayaking so I need the van until a place in the kayak storage becomes available. My van is 20year old and very bashed.

Every Monday at 2.30 a brand new Volvo parks directly opposite my drive, in front of my neighbours dropped kerb. When they park here I can get my car out but not my van meaning my dc cannot go to their club which I have already paid for. I know they are inside the house opposite, I knock on the door but they don’t answer but then when I’m attempting to manoeuvre my van out I see them peeping out of the window. I put a note through the door a couple of weeks ago asking them not to do it after they still wouldn’t open the door. They put a note back through mine saying they were parking in front of their dropped kerb, they were entitled to and many others on the road did the same. This is true but I am the only house on my side of the street so no one else has anyone else opposite. I’ve also put a sign on my gate saying please do not park opposite

Having again had to carefully get the car out and not be able to get my kids to their club I’m thinking next week I’ll just bump it. I’m pretty sure I could get out with a couple of touches to their car but it would probably leave dents.

I’ve tried calling the police to say I’m blocked in but by the time they arrived neighbours friend had moved their car and when the police knocked they hid again 🙄

Btw I know I’m unreasonable and I almost certainly won’t do it. I’m just bloody pissed off.

It is almost irrelevant whether they should park there or not. The OP needs them to move for less than two minutes so she can take her children out. They won't move.

They're in and yet they ignore the police at the door for 15 minutes?

What did the police shout? I'd have said that the visit to the door was only a discretionary courtesy, to give them a chance to do the right thing; if they don't wish to take advantage of this courtesy, surely the next step for the police is just to call out the tow truck, incurring a lot of inconvenience and a hefty fee. I presume that, if even traffic wardens can't cancel fines once they've started writing out the ticket, the police must surely have the power to levy the fine and costs of the tow truck - in fact to insist on taking it away - even when the car owner does come running out shouting.

@WhileMyMeringueGentlyWeeps

Could a local paper be persuaded to do a story on it with your children doing their best sad faces. Or do you have a neighbourhood group online on which you can rant and shame em with photos. Does no one know who this hideous visitor is? Shame them! Or get your children to do a sad face pose, photocopy this and post a copy through their letterbox every week. Stick copies on the Volvo. Get your children to cry loudly and dramatically outside their door and through their letterbox.

😂😂😂

Please do this op.

whilemeringuegentlyweeps the local news is pretty dull round here but I don’t think even the Western Morning News could be persuaded to write a story about a couple of kids missing their kayaking lesson. Neighbourhood Watch might be an option though, the man that runs that is a proper little Hitler and he’s never happier than when he’s got something to rage about. It might also distract him from his ongoing obsession with my wall.

I’m with the other posters who say, park in front of your house, not on the driveway.

anniesnap 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

After reading the other brilliant neighbours parking post, why don’t you get your van out and park it where the Volvo parka just to show how annoying it is 😂 then do it every Monday!!!

Point out to them it's illegal to park on any dropped kerb, including your own

As far as I'm aware you aren't even allowed to park over your own dropped kerb, I could be wrong tho

A suggestion:- why don’t you offer to let them park on your drive while you go kayaking. They can back up to let you out and then park in your drive until you get back. If you swap numbers with the neighbour you can give them a heads up when you’re nearly home so the visitor can move off your driveway, let you in and park on the road again. A mutually beneficial solution possibly.

Parking across a dropped kerb is an offence irrespective of if you own the property. It’s as simple as that.

Well you know on mondays you need to take your van off the drive by 2 so you can use it,

I knock on the door but they don’t answer but then when I’m attempting to manoeuvre my van out I see them peeping out of the window

Why would you consider 'bumping' the offending car?
As you know that Volvo owner is ignoring you knocking on the door, lean on your van horn instead.
And keep doing it until they come out to unblock you.

@GreenCrayon

Would it not be possible to park your van in front of your drive before their car arrives?

It would certainly make more sense to do this ^.

Could you ask on a local Facebook group whether anyone near where you go kayaking has storage space or for a roof rack you could borrow for a few months? You could highlight the awful behaviour of your neighbours in the post too and hope someone who knows them let’s them know how unreasonable they are.

Apologies if it has been suggested but if their car is on the dropped kerb and there is no dropped kerb either side I would park my car right up to the rear bumper and my van right up to the front bumper and then refuse to move.

Use some sense and park on the road on Mondays.

Geez, some people really are hard of understanding!

Op has said umpteen times that there is no room to park on the road without parking across someone's drive, which is why twat neighbour's visitor is parked there.

If you reverse van in you will find it easier to get off your drive. If not then what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander so be the gander and park across your own drive!

@notsofussy

Use some sense and park on the road on Mondays.

Or maybe use some sense and read the thread as the OP explains clearly why that isn't possible.

Did you tell the neighbours why and it's just on a Monday? 🤣

thistletits for possibly the twentieth time, I cannot park in front of my own drive - it is not wide enough and there are steep banks either side of the entrance

1idea we are currently on the waiting list for a space on the kayak racks at the marina, there will hopefully be some by September. That’s the only place to leave them without driving. As I said earlier a roof rack isn’t possible.

@fussyhousewife

If you reverse van in you will find it easier to get off your drive. If not then what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander so be the gander and park across your own drive!

The road is too narrow for the Op to make the turn in her van; she can just about do it in a smaller car, but there are grassy embankments on her side which she can't just drive over. Doesn't make a difference which way her van is facing.

My neighbour often has people park outside there house right across from my drive. It makes it very tricky for me to pull out without going over the grass verge. When they were having work done and it was larger vans parked across from our drive it was impossible without going over the grass verge and we had a snotty letter from our estate management trying to charge us for repairing the grass. They got quite a shirty message in return!

*their not there!