Someone has parked over my H bar and blocked my car in ...

[WatfordGap]

Earlier this year, I had an H bar painted across my dropped kerb because people kept parking over the edge of the dropped bit, meaning I couldn't get in or out of my drive (the drive is narrow and at an angle on a very narrow street with cars parked opposite).

So far, it's pretty much done the trick. But today I went out for an hour and came back and someone has parked a good foot or so over the end of it, meaning that I can't get my car off the driveway. Unfortunately for them, I was not using the vehicle which was (and still is) parked on the drive, but another one. :)

So I've parked across the rest of my H bar. There's now enough room between my front bumper and their rear one to get a matchbox in. There's about a foot between them and the car parked in front of them.

Today is my last day at work for 2 weeks. Do you think I should have an early glass of wine to celebrate?

People who park over drives, blocking people in, are extremely selfish. They don't care that the car might be needed to go to work. They don't care that the car might be needed to pick up kids from school. They don't care that it may be needed to get to an appointment. They don't care that it may be needed in an emergency. They don't care that the owner may be disabled. They are selfish idiots that only care that they can park.

I've been blocked in when oncall before now. If I am delayed attending the hospital in a true emergency, it increases the chances of a child or baby dying. Would Peridito consider that a good enough reason to discourage people from parking over the driveway?

Good! Serves them right, have another glass of wine and watch them struggle to get their car out😁

I used to live in Watford near the Harlequin. I wonder where this is?( if you are actually in Watford)

No OP doesn't tell them she can't move car due to wine.

They knock and ask op to move car. OP denies it's hers. Hers is on her drive. Op then explains that she was meant to be going out this evening but couldn't because selfish twats have blocked her in. So she stayed home and got pissed.

@WatfordGap

I've posted this from my laptop now so hopefully people can see it?

I do know parking thread rules.

I like 'blameless cars'. I may say that to drivers who give me way from now 'hello blameless car'.

allosprey24 Fri 23-Jul-21 16:45:36 Have you taken a note of naughty parkers reg number OP, so if it damages your car trying to escape, you can claim on his/her insurance?

Good point! Take note of their details, maybe photograph their car OP just in case.

I can't believe people one person thinks it's ok to park across people's drives. The person parking across the drive has no idea at all of the situation of the home occupant. They might have plans tonight and need to get out at a certain time. There might be an emergency which no one could predict. There might be any number of instances and there might be nothing but it's not up to a wanker parker to decide if a home owner can get in and out of her own drive. We don't even know who this wanker is, how to contact them to ask them to move or how long they plan to block OP's drive.
It's interesting you think the OP (the home owner who can't get her car out of her private drive) should not inconvenience the inconsiderate wanker who knowingly parked in such a way to inconvenience her.
Why should the wanker be allowed to do whatever they want and everyone else tip toe around them?

@peridito

I can't help but feel that a more productive approach would be to leave a note /speak to owner of car . Not to go straight into outrage mode when it's not actually causing her any difficulty .It's her reaction that I'm regarding as unreasonable .

As said ,first offence .You don't want to turn it into a war ,you want them not to do it again .You catch more flies with honey than vinegar .

And maybe we could turn our skills at hypothesising and quoting anecdotes towards the car parker ? Who knows what's going on their life ,what stresses they are under or whether any mitigating factors exist for them committing this heinous crime ?

.

Oh @peridito, I fear you are becoming a tedious bore. All the OP has done is park her car across her own driveway and had two glasses of wine. Why would she want to go and confront a stranger about parking over her drive and blocking her in? Do you honestly believe that the type of person who parks across people's drives, blocking them in, would see the error of their ways after a polite note left on the windscreen or a little chat from the drive owner? Highly unlikely, I'd wager. I'd not get into any face to face confrontations with anybody over this, who knows how it could escalate. If they've become stick because of their inconsiderate parking I'd suggest that those are natural consequences. They should be inconvenienced by their choices, not the OP, whom you suggest writes notes or sits staring at the road all evening to go to confront the driver when they finally return. Nopes.

Yes OP, please deny it being your car.
If only you could somehow make your neighbor refuse to move. Invite them over for some wine?

Loving this. We also have this problem regularly. Have had the council out many a time. Will try this next time with the help of next door!

Just thought. This is MN. Nobody ever answers a knock at the door, especially if the knocker hasn't made an appointment three weeks prior. So no worries there.

I could get out with a foot at the front, maybe fifty point turn but I coulc

I'm taking notes 😄 someone keeps parking blocking my garage door and it's driving me nuts! Not sure I can block them in... but there has to be some way to take petty revenge.

@peridito

I can't help but feel that a more productive approach would be to leave a note /speak to owner of car . Not to go straight into outrage mode when it's not actually causing her any difficulty .It's her reaction that I'm regarding as unreasonable .

As said ,first offence .You don't want to turn it into a war ,you want them not to do it again .You catch more flies with honey than vinegar .

And maybe we could turn our skills at hypothesising and quoting anecdotes towards the car parker ? Who knows what's going on their life ,what stresses they are under or whether any mitigating factors exist for them committing this heinous crime ?

.

I usually do notes. But usually they've parked a teeny bit over the H and then I can get out with a bit of wiggling. This is particularly egregious.

Also, I cannot tell you how boring it gets writing notes asking people to not block you in. They don't do it again (because I often see the same cars driving around looking for a parking space) but I'm really tired of asking them to respect residents.

You can park on the high street for 20p for 10 minutes, for a max 2 hours. You can park all day in the car park at the station (5 minutes from my house) for £3.50. There are always plenty of spaces.

Literally the only reason that people park badly is because they're too cheap to pay for parking.

OP could you take a camping chair out there and sit in the one front to drink your wine?

Kudos on the diagram, OP. Also, gold star for lovely handwriting

What happens if the car immediately in front of the Wanker moves away? He’ll have a clear path to just drive out.

You should leave a note on the car to tell them not to block you in, and then tell them if they deliver an apology to you, you will let them out. On the note, give them a house number that doesn’t exist but is similar to your own. Watch the chaos and get to hear then stumble through excuses - and not be able to move your car anyway

Vodsel that would indeed be a sad anticlimax....

@sergeilavrov

You should leave a note on the car to tell them not to block you in, and then tell them if they deliver an apology to you, you will let them out. On the note, give them a house number that doesn’t exist but is similar to your own. Watch the chaos and get to hear then stumble through excuses - and not be able to move your car anyway

But surely they’ll know it’s the house of the car that they’ve blocked in?

Oooooh loving this thread and the diagrams. We were going to get a H bar to stop all of the annoying people who park across the drive. So bloody angering!

@70isaLimitNotaTarget

If only there was some sort of recognised way of marking areas that are not to be parked on.

Or some sort of little booklet that people can buy when they learn to drive . Some sort of CODE about the HIGHWAY .......if only

SquashMinusIsShit
@MaMelon I hope that you was you flipping the bird grin

That was absolutely me flipping the bird Fuck off with your ‘to forgive is divine’ BS.

@VodselForDinner Sorry, poorly written. I meant from the perspective of the street car owner - assuming it’s unclear both cars are owned by OP. Blocking her in meant a concerned neighbour about the drive, assuming the idiot Parker won’t want to confront OP and admit they blocked her in knowingly.

@peridito

If someone has acted illegally then follow the proscribed course - report to the appropriate authorities .

If it's a parking issue and you're that concerned to ensure the person learns a lesson ,then use the correct channels .Don't come over all vigilante and decide you're going to inflict your own "punishment ".

Reporting it won't get you anywhere, whereas this way the OP may have the satisfaction of seeing CF struggle to get out.

@peridito

I can't help but feel that a more productive approach would be to leave a note /speak to owner of car . Not to go straight into outrage mode when it's not actually causing her any difficulty .It's her reaction that I'm regarding as unreasonable .

As said ,first offence .You don't want to turn it into a war ,you want them not to do it again .You catch more flies with honey than vinegar .

And maybe we could turn our skills at hypothesising and quoting anecdotes towards the car parker ? Who knows what's going on their life ,what stresses they are under or whether any mitigating factors exist for them committing this heinous crime ?

.

What if you dont want to catch flies? This isnt a first offence hence the H bar being painted earlier this year. It may be this drivers first offence , but how would OP know? The inconsiderate driver has no clue when they see an area not to be parked on whether they will inconvenience anyone so a safer way is to just not park in those areas. All of this is covered in this little booklet called the highway code. Amazing that someone went to all the bother of printing this little booklet for far too many people to ignore.

I too have a dropped curb (no H bar however) and the occasional time people park over it for more than 10 minutes, which is kind of me to give them any time at all, I call the police to tell them an engineer lives here and requires egress right now for an emergency call out.
The engineer bit is true, the call out may or may not, it has been true at times.

We wouldnt however say a word if emergency services park over it, but as there is a huge grass verge between drives there would be little reason for that.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread and shamelessly placemarking for updates.