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.

It seems a tad ridiculous that her tirade which included banging on and blocking your car, you trying to explain/pacify her and lock your doors because she wasn't letting you leave meant you were parked there somewhat longer than you intended!

Trouble is that if it's ok for someone to just park on double yellows for a few mins or to sort a baby out etc. then everyone will do that. Why didn't you just park somewhere not on double yellows? The woman who had a go is probably sick of entitled people thinking their parking reason trumps all others. Just park legally in the first place and then there would be no drama.

From what you've said her screaming at you is the reason you won't do it again, rather than because you were in the wrong too, so I can't get worked up about her behaviour.

The times that the red line prohibitions apply are shown on nearby signs, but the double red line ALWAYS means no stopping at any time. On Red Routes you may stop to park, load/unload in specially marked boxes and adjacent signs specify the times and purposes and duration allowed.1 Oct 2015
www.gov.uk › guidance › ro...
The Highway Code - Road markings - Guidance - GOV.UK

i know I have stopped many times on double yellows, never intended to leave my car there but maybe if I've had to pull over or wait for something, to grab something out the boot, soothe my children, to load or unload etc. The road outside my grandmas is double yellow lined and I stop there all the time to pick her up. I've never got a parking ticket as I've never stayed on yellow lines or left unattended. Would never stop in a dangerous spot, near a junction or blocking anyone but some of the yellow lines near me are to simply stop tourists parking on the road but have plenty of visibility to stop for a couple minutes.

her reaction was ott and weird imo. Total busy body.

try not to let it get to you op.

Why are you calling out the OP for being sweary when you have quoted someone else? And as an aside, why are you even calling out someone for swearing and using language that this persons deems appropriate? We can use whatever language we choose. YOU might not like names of religious figures being used but a lot of people don't mind at all. Please stop with the judgement.

Double yellow lines and zig zag lines mark areas where you cannot park or even stop to drop someone, being the reason that this is highly dangerous, either for other road users as you block the view or to anyone exiting your car.
Did you leave your children in the car, parked on the double yellow lines? This in itself is dangerous. Think that by blocking a driver's view of the road ahead, they could hit a pedestrian or another car, or stir their car out of the way suddenly and so it is possible for them to hit your car.

I’ve been reading most of the thread and wasn’t going to comment because a) you’ve accepted your fault in it and b) the lady did scare you, so she’s at fault a bit too. However, you calling her a psycho needs addressing. Because YES, maybe she was going through something like that. Why is this term used so flippantly?! I did go through a psychosis and YES I acted very strange at the time. I had ZERO control over it, my brain malfunctioned. I cannot stand when people throw this term around as if it’s a choice to struggle with your mental health.
Another thing that might be the reason for her “overreaction” - she might know someone who was struck by a car driving at speed due to someone just parking on double yellows “for a minute”.
Yes she scared you and she shouldn’t have. But we don’t know her, we haven’t walked a mile in her shoes.

I’m glad you’ve hopefully learned from the experience and thankfully you were both lucky on this occasion in that it didn’t escalate.

Don’t you sound delightful

🙄

@DangerouslyBored I’m sorry that my 6 years of absolute mental health hell causes you an eye roll. If it was someone you cared about, maybe you’d be more understanding of my point. Have a nice day.

Double yellow lines and zig zag lines mark areas where you cannot park or even stop to drop someone, being the reason that this is highly dangerous

As has been pointed out many times already, that is not true of double yellows (though it is true of zig-zags). The number of people on this thread who don’t know laws of driving is genuinely staggering. The fact that many of them then lecture the OP, despite being in the wrong themselves, is even more staggering.

Don't worry about it OP as you really didn't do anything wrong and doubt even the police would've had an issue with it.

I can't stand the sanctimonious. It's like those idiots who block both lanes on a 'merge in turn' situation because everyone loves to queue on the inside lane. Muppets.

She may have had previous but that's no excuse for bad behaviour. Completely OTT.

Oh dear. I actually meant psycho as in PSYCHOPATH! Not as in psychotic...she needs to watch herself a bit, as one day she may come across the wrong psychopath and get hurt.

This is not a good reason to park on double yellows. Don't do it again. Unless there is something actually seriously wrong, baby crying is not a good enough reason to endanger other road users.

The woman also possibly overreacted, but who knows? She might have seen an accident there caused by someone doing exactly what you did.

@flowerpowder
Were they double yellow lines or double yellow kerb markings? If it was the lines then you are allowed to stop to 'load/unload' unless there is a specific restriction on a signpost.
You may not stop if it's double yellow kerb markings.

I actually meant psycho as in PSYCHOPATH! Not as in psychotic

Um - where do you think the word 'psychopath' comes from?

A person who is medically a 'psychopath' is going to be mentally ill. Not an appopriate term for a woman who lost her temper a bit at you on the streeet.

You were selfish! Why you park there?

I honestly don’t understand why people post these sorts of threads.

Now, after your bollocking, you’re getting a load of people giving you a hard time on here.

Feel better, do you?

Unless she’s a traffic warden it’s not really any of her business where you park even if you can’t park there. You’re an adult and if you get a ticket or a ticking off from a traffic warden that’s on you. Not really up to a stranger to come finger wagging and screaming at you is it? She’s not your mother.

What?

OP sounds like a new parent. New parents sometimes think that their baby crying is the end of the world, panic, and pull over in daft or dangerous places in the car. I didn’t say she had stopped on a hard shoulder. I said that in future she needs to learn that as long as the baby isn’t actually unsafe it is important to drive on until you find somewhere safe to stop. It’s horrible but we all have to do it some time.

I hope you are not a driver because you have very little knowledge of the highway code if you think OP didn't do anything wrong.

I was just about to post this.

If anyone is on a high horse OP, it seems to now be you. Just hope it isn't tied up near a double yellow.