Woman completely bollocked me for parking on double yellows..

[flowerpowder]

I know, I am in the wrong because I parked wrong. For 2 minutes only, but nonetheless- wrong.

I was getting back into my car and this lady starts charging at me- I had both my Babies in the car. She starts screaming at me ' you can't park here, you can't park here. ' I put my hands up and say ' I know I'm sorry I'm sorry. ' She continues charging at my car. At this point I got scared and again said 'I am sorry and it won't happen again. '

I jumped into my car and locked the doors and she starts banging on my window, at which point - I again say ' look I understand and I won't park here again'.

Only then did she finally let off and I drove away.

Isn't that a bit of an extreme reaction ? I would never do that. Fair enough if I had got angry back, but I immediately apologised and backed down and she just kept going. She really scared me.

She was a massive cunt, that's it. Nothing more to it.

You're allowed to load or unload from yellow lines, likewise with dropping off passengers. What you did is no different.

Yes. Given that there are people on this thread who didn't realise you could have yellow lines outside houses, I'm going to take their views with a pinch of salt...

Everyone who lives in a town or city stops on double yellows from time to time. It is permitted (or at least tolerated) for loading/unloading, unless that is specifically prohibited. If this were not the case, large cities wouldn't need double red lines as well.

So you didn't park on double yellows? You stopped on them? Available to move straight away if needed.

Still not allowed. But in this case I think her reaction was over the top.

But I've been in your situation with a baby screaming and done the same. If someone had come and had a go at me I wouldn't have been as graceful as you.

I tend to agree.

There are 2 kinds of parking restrictions: some that are in place for other people's safety and convenience, and others because we live in a bloody car-hating society.

If you disobey the first, you're being selfish and more. The latter, just make sure you don't get a ticket.

Maybe it's at a crossing and makes it difficult to cross or a blind spot for pedestrians

We have double yellows on our residential road. Down one side as it's too narrow for parking on both sides.

who gave this woman the right to act like a cop and then bang on her glass.
at most she could have given her a ticking off.

what she did was harassment and threatening behaviour.

But…how come it’s illegal to park there unless you’re disabled? Not that I’d ever want to make life more difficult for and disabled person, but either it’s safe to stop there or it’s not, surely?

Do you really think that some double yellows are there just to inconvenience car users?

An ambulance driver might disagree here.

Yellow lines = no parking. Stopping to drop off/pick up or to load/unload is permitted.

Yellow lines with perpendicular yellow markings = no parking and no loading, but pick up/drop off is permitted.

Red lines (a London thing) = no stopping.

Single lines have set times, double lines are anytime.

Double yellows are usually more about traffic flow than safety.

The safety aspects still apply regardless of double yellows. E.g. you can’t park on a corner with or without double yellows.

Choose an area and I'll show you a bunch of yellow lines that are there just because. Every time an area becomes CPZ, for some mysterious reason many previously legal spaces become yellow lines.

Crossings have white zigzags.

Double yellow lines do not mean that it is unsafe to stop
(Though of course there will be places where it is unsafe to stop and there are double yellow lines)
It is also unsafe to stop in places where there are no double yellow lines

Single and double yellow lines mean the same thing, but with greater or lesser restrictions
Single yellow lines are accompanied by a sign confirming the restrictions
Double yellow lines might have a sign, and if not they apply 24/7

It is legal to stop or park on double yellow lines in certain circumstances unless they are accompanied with other markings with the restrictions - eg double yellow lines plus double yellow vertical curb lines prevents loading & unloading

But you don't have double yellows at crossings. You have zig-zag lines.

Would she say the same thing to blue badge holders? Of course not.
OP had to DO an urgent stop to calm her babies down. Assuming it was safe to do so… it’s safer to stop and give the baby something to calm down than driving being distracted and stressed.
OP it’s not worth worrying about it.

Crying baby. Dummy in boot so had to pull over. Bollocks.

She was a dick OP . None of her business and no need to be so aggressive at all

The good reason could be that parking there makes it difficult/impossible to get in and out of her own driveway or parking space, or makes visibility difficult on a junction or corner. If someone parks on the double yellows outside my house, you have to go into the middle of the road to overtake and then can't easily get back over in time to get to the junction safely - if someone turns into the road, you're on the wrong side.

That's OTT if you had just stopped there and were by the car. I do think some people get so incensed by things to do with parking and driving that they kind of expect to be met by hostility and anger and will act as though you've been aggressive, even when you're not. Like sometimes I've made an error while driving and I immediately apologise and admit it's my fault and then other person (usually a man) keeps going with the yelling because he's just assuming I'm going to be like him and will be all defensive and aggressive and is acting like I've just screamed abuse at him. But that's his problem.

I used to be really shaken by stuff like this, I hate the idea of anyone thinking badly of me - then I realised it's a total stranger, I'll probably never see the person again, and even if I do we'd never recognise each other and they'll have forgotten all about it the next day, so it's not worth running it round my head.

I’ve accosted people a couple of times who park on the double yellows on the corner by us. I’ve seen so many near misses (as it impacts visibility) and hassles as the post office vans and supermarket lorries get stuck as they can’t get round the corner. Everyone is parking for ‘just two minutes’ (or 5…or 10…. ) but when it’s multiple people every hour or so it’s dangerous. After ten years of it I’ve escalated from Hard Stares to politely pointing out it’s an unsafe place to park. Hopefully I won’t escalate to windows tapping ….

Some people seem to think it is their job to over zealously police the rest of the world. It must be very tiring for them.