AIBU who's the CF? Another parking thread!!!

[crazymicrowave123]

My neighbour opposite my house wrote a letter and put it in my windshield this morning basically a very scary drafted letter explaining that I am not to park outside their house as it is a spot reserved for them by the council to charge their car in their house as they are elderly.

They write that they have a bin that they put out with a note explaining this so that people do not park there and that they own the spot. I parked there yesterday morning and haven't moved my car until today when I saw the note. I have lived at my house for over 6 years and never had an issue parking there before as have others parked there with seemingly no issues.

There was no bin reserving the spot on the road when I parked there (there was a bin on the pavement however) and I didn't think to check their bin for a note explaining not to park there on that day. They say in the letter they will take me to court if I park there again and that they are battling the same issue with others, however I have spoken to my Dad who thinks they are just CF's trying to scare people into letting them have that space.

There are plenty of elderly people on our road who don't request for a space to be reserved nor did I think the council even allowed this. AIBU to keep parking here? I only park here if there is no where else to park but would happily move if they put a bin there with a note politely asking if they can have the spot for the day or something.

It's a cul de sac and I have a child so I can't walk too far due to health issues. And can they really take me to court or can I find out whether the council really have reserved them this spot? I apologise for my terrible handwriting and drawling skills.

Why would someone buy an electric car if they didn’t have a drive to park it on?!

Ask for a copy of their letter from the council confirming this entitlement. Bet they haven’t got one.

@godmum56 , I hate predictive text, < I'll get my coat >

YANBU, they are chancing it.

My mum has a blue badge and even she wouldn’t expect neighbours not to park outside her home.

[quote Sundancerintherain]@godmum56 , I hate predictive text, < I'll get my coat >[/quote]
hahahahaha

Even when a disabled bay is painted on the road outside someone's house, it's not theirs; it's open to anyone with a blue badge. This makes me think your neighbours are talking rubbish.

This always reminds me of a girl I used to go to school with boasting g that her new house came with a dedicated car parking spot. The previous owner was disabled and there was a spot designated outside the house. She had a furious row with me that it was her spot to park in beciase it came with the house.

She got mad when an actual disabled person parked in it, and even madder when she got a parking ticket😂😂

[quote Bargebill19]@Blossomtoes. Sadly that wouldn’t work where we live. 700 properties. In excess of 50% have only street parking. Most homes have 2 or more cars. We currently have 6 lamp posts. For the entire village 6. They cost £50k to upgrade the light heads, not upgrade to charging points. They come under the parish council to pay for installation, repairs and ongoing costs. Currently our parish council has a loan to pay for these 6 and £20k in its accounts.
So how do we charge electric cars?
No buses or taxis. Nearest town 15 miles away, so can’t park up to charge and walk home.[/quote]
In charging stations which will become as common as petrol stations. We don’t fill up our cars at home, do we?

No we don’t. But it doesn’t take several hours to fill one at a petrol station either.
Quick charge stations that can fully recharge a car in less than five minutes aren’t around.

The infrastructure needs to be planned and in place first. That’s the incentive to switch.

@ArcheryAnnie

It’s a shame but it seems that unless you have private parking it’s hard to have an electric car

Where I am in London, we have loads of electric charging points on surrounding side streets for anyone to use.

On the original point: I think a bit of pass-agg concern for the CF is perfectly doable if you run into him, otherwise ignore and park at will.

That’s lovely but there are places other than London

Electric cars will become much quicker to charge with longer range (I have it on good authority from DH!). One will be able to go to a local charging centre, pretty much like we go to the petrol station, charge up for 30 minutes or so and come home. We don't all have petrol pumps outside our houses, the idea of having your personal charging point outside your home is going to be a thing of the past, unless you have your own driveway I suppose.

@Bargebill19

No we don’t. But it doesn’t take several hours to fill one at a petrol station either. Quick charge stations that can fully recharge a car in less than five minutes aren’t around. The infrastructure needs to be planned and in place first. That’s the incentive to switch.

We’ll have to do things differently. There’s no way it will take several hours by the time petrol cars are no longer on sale. Take the car, buy a coffee, read a book for a full charge or charge little and often whenever you park. Twenty years ago we wouldn’t have envisaged online grocery shopping being the norm, yet here we are.

I would report them to the council. Tell them they’re causing a trip hazard with their charging cable and preventing disabled people using the pavement.

I meant 20 mins (if that)

@Blossomtoes. Agreed things have to change. But the infrastructure has to be there first. I love your idea of having several hours to kill whilst waiting for a car to charge. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Plus the added expense of what you suggest!! Just not happening in the real world. We need quick charge points available publicly, plus an infrastructure allowing people to charge at or very close to their homes. Or a swappable battery system available at points like current petrol stations are. A bit like the gas swap system for bottled gas at present.

[quote Bargebill19]@Blossomtoes. Agreed things have to change. But the infrastructure has to be there first. I love your idea of having several hours to kill whilst waiting for a car to charge. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Plus the added expense of what you suggest!! Just not happening in the real world. We need quick charge points available publicly, plus an infrastructure allowing people to charge at or very close to their homes. Or a swappable battery system available at points like current petrol stations are. A bit like the gas swap system for bottled gas at present.[/quote]
You’re completely missing the point. It won’t take several hours. Technology is improving all the time. By the time we’re all driving electric cars it will take 15 to 30 minutes. What added expense? I’d bet my house a full charge will cost less than a tank of petrol.

Maybe give them this advice from Hammersmith & Fulham's website:
"If you don’t have access to private off-street parking you may consider running a cable across the pavement to your car. We don’t support this as it can cause a hazard...
If you choose to trail a cable over the pavement, you must make every effort to reduce the trip hazard by covering the cable and making passers-by aware. If you don’t, it could be regarded as an illegal hazard or obstruction to the public highway and subject to enforcement and possible prosecution under the S162 of the Highways Act 1980."

@Blossomtoes

You said yourself go and get a coffee - that’s extra expense. You said sit and read a book. That’s extra time.
Currently the infrastructure is not there, that’s why the op neighbours have this problem with charging the car.
Quite simply if you want people to change, then you have to make it possible for them. Currently, if you don’t have off street parking it’s nearly impossible to charge your car.
Fwiw. The nearest quick charge point to us is a motorway journey of 40 miles, you can only stay 2 hours. Not that I have that time.!
Or I can go to Tesco and fight for one charge point which may or may not be right for the adaptor for the car and I can only stay I hour.
Both of the fines for overstaying would fill my petrol car, which then lasts a month.
Get workable infrastructure in place and it’s a winner. Currently sadly for many it’s not. Technology improves but not quick enough.

Yeah OK @Bargebill19. I guess some of us are more open to progress than others. 🤷‍♀️

@Blossomtoes
No idea where you got that idea. I’ve said I agree with you. How is that non progressive? But I disagree that the current infrastructure is up to allowing us to swap. It needs to be much further along. Not everyone had a easy to parking, street lamps or other charging points. That’s not my fault, nor can I fix it not can you. As seen by this thread, if the infrastructure was there, this wouldn’t be a problem.

@Saddlesore

Of course they don’t own that space. Plus, their charging cable presumably will lie over the pavement, from the house to the car. Maybe write them a note saying that you plan to sue them if you trip on it?

On another thread someone seemed fairly certain that you can’t let a cable trail over the pavement. OP, the best way to find the answer is to contact your council. Send a copy of the letter cf sent to you.

I’m laughing my head off at “cuntil” I don’t know about anyone else.

I like the note from pp thanking them for drawing this to your attention and you’ll be getting a similar space sorted for yourself now.

That’s lovely but there are places other than London

That's amazing, Hoppinggreen - I had no idea.

Lots of things need to change before it's practical for us all to be driving electric vehicles, the distance on one charge for one. Pointing out the issues isn't not being open to progress, it's being realistic. Not everyone has a driveway/access to a charger/just drives about locally etc etc. It suits some people but not the vast majority of drivers currently.

@ElephantOfRisk. Thank you. I really am for progress!

They’re trying it on. Try to park there every day.