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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that there are too many parked cars on the roads these days?

214 replies

JammyRedRooo · 17/02/2022 19:58

Its absolutely ridiculous in my area. Whole swathes of road are basically one lane only due to the amount of parked cars. It makes visibility when driving really difficult.

Half of the houses have empty drives as well!

You can't turn into my cul de sac on the correct side of the road because of the row of parked cars all the way up to the junction, it's just so dangerous.

I know you pay a premium for a house with parking, or households often have more cars than spaces but I find it so infuriating and unsafe.

Anyone else?

OP posts:
TheOriginalEmu · 18/02/2022 00:21

@SilverGlitterBaubles

Yanbu especially in the instances where people actually have driveways but still park on the road, I just don't understand it. On the other hand there are so many properties being built now without parking so people have to park somewhere and will end up in nearby roads.
I can only speak for myself, but I’ve started parking on the road bevause when I park on my drive people block me in. Which is dangerous when I have a disabled kid I sometimes need to get to hospital at all hours.
TheOriginalEmu · 18/02/2022 00:24

@NannyOggsWhiskyStash

It has always puzzled me why people park on the road rather than their driveway. It's just another example of people's selfish behaviour
Because when I park on my drive people block me in and I can’t get out. So I have to be selfish because other people are selfish.
DixonD · 18/02/2022 00:30

@daisypond

I don’t know anyone who has a drive. Anyone who has a car has to park on the road. You have to buy a residents’ permit.
How is that possible?

I only know ONE person who doesn’t have a drive.

etulosba · 18/02/2022 00:32

What do you propose?

The Japanese system seems to work.

To register a car, or when changing address, you need to prove to the local police that you have a parking space for it.

Blossomtoes · 18/02/2022 00:36

How is that possible? I only know ONE person who doesn’t have a drive

Big cities are full of terraced housing without drives.

Skinnytailedsquirrel · 18/02/2022 00:37

I like seeing roads filled up with parked cars as it does tend to slow drivers down and that's the only reason I like it!

TheGoogleMum · 18/02/2022 00:38

YANBU. We have 1 car and 2 drive spaces so we never clog up pavement at home. If you need multiple cars buy a house with more spaces? I think households have too many cars anyway some near me have 3 but only 2 adults which seems so excessive

daisypond · 18/02/2022 07:11

@Blossomtoes

How is that possible? I only know ONE person who doesn’t have a drive

Big cities are full of terraced housing without drives.

Exactly. I live in terraced housing in a city. There are no drives at all. No front gardens that you could even turn into a drive.
Original poster
JammyRedRooo · 18/02/2022 08:29

@etulosba

What do you propose?

The Japanese system seems to work.

To register a car, or when changing address, you need to prove to the local police that you have a parking space for it.

This would be a really good idea IF there was a massive investment in public transport!
OP posts:
Original poster
JammyRedRooo · 18/02/2022 08:32

@FrustratedTeddyLamp

Presumably you need a dropped curb for that so if anything you've basically just ensured your parking space whilst making 1 less for others when you aren't using it
Dropped kerbs are useful for pedestrians too. I find it a pain in the arse when I go out with the pram and loads of people have parked on them, and I imagine it's the same for wheelchair/scooter users.
OP posts:
DetailMouse · 18/02/2022 08:33

In Japan you have to prove you have a parking space before you can buy a car and overnight parking on the road is banned.

Iamthewombat · 18/02/2022 08:34

If there had been a bus that picked me up from my house and dropped me off outside my work, I'd have got rid of the car without a doubt.

When I hear people saying that they HAVE to park their car on the pavement, or blocking a junction, because they HAVE to travel in a car that they can’t park safely or considerately because public transport is, according to them, so terrible, I think this is what they mean. Why can’t a bus be constantly waiting on standby to pick them up from home and take them to the door of their destination? It’s simply not fair.

DetailMouse · 18/02/2022 08:35

I have space for 4 cars on my drive but if I know I'll need to go out 20 mins either side of school drop of I leave my car on the road or I'll be blocked in.

Pigsears · 18/02/2022 08:41

I live in a big city near a park and lots of public transport.

4 household own cars in my street.

The street has space for 60 on street parking spaces and it's filled. Pretty much always.

People drive to go to the park to walk their dogs, to the gym, get closer to public transport, attend church and drop their children at school.

Two sides of parked cars makes road crossing more difficult on foot, cycling more difficult and also means we have more cars on the road. Drivers can get aggressive looking for a car space. They often block the pavement. They very often idle (when dropping/ collecting kids or waiting for a relative to attend a church service).

I would love no car parking on our street- except disabled bays and a couple for workers vehicles. Replace rest with green grass.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 18/02/2022 08:42

When 60% of us use a car for journeys of 1-2 miles, it's hardly surprising there are so many cars on the road - we all feel we can't live without our car.

But those journeys are often part of a larger picture.

For example - I'm a dog walker and lots of my individual journeys are a mile or less between clients. But in total, I drive probably 30+ miles a day, so walking all that on top of my 4-5 hours of dog walks is physically impossible.

It's the same when people complain about parents driving the school run. The school may only be half a mile from home, but most parents have to then get to the office and don't have time to walk to school, drop off, walk back home, get the car and then drive back past the school again.

Original poster
JammyRedRooo · 18/02/2022 08:42

There are SO many people from my office (massive campus type place with thousands of employees) who live in my town and we have no train station or direct buses. I often think how it would be so good if they could put on a bus or two in the morning and same again in the evening, with wifi so people can log on during the commute.

OP posts:
JuergenSchwarzwald · 18/02/2022 08:43

The bigger problem is how many cars are parked on pavements.

But yes we are a very car-centric society and have too many cars. The only answer is to spend a lot of money on public transport and cycle lanes.

FujiIX · 18/02/2022 08:45

Yanbu
I don’t drive so none of them are my car and DH parks his on the drive
People are just not considerate any more.

FloBot7 · 18/02/2022 08:47

I'm looking to move at the moment and am surprised by the badly planned parking in new build estates. Most 4 bed houses and some 5 bed houses come with two parking spaces (most involve parking one car behind the other). A few have just one space. There's no allowance for visitor parking spaces at all and the roads aren't very wide to compensate. We don't have children but would expect some people buying a house with 4 or 5 double bedrooms to have a teenager or two. If they have a car it will have to be parked on the road. If family regularly visit they'll be parked on the road too. I don't understand why planning offices don't question it before they are built.

DoNotTouchTheWater · 18/02/2022 08:52

Planning too much parking isn’t encouraged because environmental policy wants to discourage car ownership and driving. It’s ridiculous given that we are talking about housing estates built with no walkable amenities and no meaningful public transport links.

The easy bit is restricting parking availability. But that won’t produce behaviour change in the absence of the infrastructural changes needed to enable the desired behaviours. That’s expensive and complex though. So what we get is local plans that insist on minimal parking.

DetailMouse · 18/02/2022 08:55

@FloBot7

I'm looking to move at the moment and am surprised by the badly planned parking in new build estates. Most 4 bed houses and some 5 bed houses come with two parking spaces (most involve parking one car behind the other). A few have just one space. There's no allowance for visitor parking spaces at all and the roads aren't very wide to compensate. We don't have children but would expect some people buying a house with 4 or 5 double bedrooms to have a teenager or two. If they have a car it will have to be parked on the road. If family regularly visit they'll be parked on the road too. I don't understand why planning offices don't question it before they are built.
I used to work in property development and planning would be refused for developments with too much parking. The developer often wanted to put plenty in (knowing that it's a popular selling point) but the councils wanted higher density housing and fewer cars. Still no one seems to have worked out that fewer parking spaces is not the same thing as fewer cars.
SartresSoul · 18/02/2022 08:58

I can’t stand pavement parkers, particularly ones who cover most or all of the pavement so you have to walk in the road to get around them. Our street is terrible for it, everyone has a drive with space for 2 large cars or 3 smaller ones but everyone still parks on the pavement. I don’t understand it at all, it’s just selfish and lazy. I can’t walk down my street with the pushchair without being forced into the road at least once. I always want to scratch their cars as I go past with the pram but I’ve never dared yet. All it takes is someone speeding around the corner and it will wipe two toddlers and their Mum out. All because selfish twats can’t be arsed pulling into the drive. Infuriates me.

Onlyforcake · 18/02/2022 08:59

Parked cars in residential areas forcing people to drive for the conditions of the road. Whatever next? Hmm

Onlyforcake · 18/02/2022 09:00

Pavement parkers.... I just scratch the sides of the car these days.

DoNotTouchTheWater · 18/02/2022 09:01

Still no one seems to have worked out that fewer parking spaces is not the same thing as fewer cars.

It’s classic policy making based on totally inaccurate assumptions about human behaviour.

Making parking hard without considering why so many people need to drive and addressing the barriers to them doing anything else just makes people angry and resentful.

It actually undermines environmental policy in its entirety.