If a car parks so close you can't get into your car, what do you do?

[heregoesnothin]

Do you just open your car door onto the car and push yourself in if you can fit that way?

It's not right to pass the problem on.

In matter of fact, yes! I will always give them a chance. If another car has caused them to park slightly over, then I will allow a bit of space.

If it's just badly parked, then unfortunately I will block their doors.

But what if the car which caused them to park off centre has gone by the time you arrive? You might assume they have parked badly, but in fact it was because when they arrived the other car (now absent) was impinging on their space. How would you know whether they have parked shoddily or originally been forced into that position?

If it's a small(ish) place I put my arm through an [other] window and honk untill somebody comes out (usually a manager) and then goes back inside to ask the customer to move his car.

Climb through but not before my lipstick has come out and I have written parking wanker or words to that effect on the windscreen, back window and the mirrors.
It is an absolute bitch to clean off but causes no lasting damage.

Had this when pregnant once. Some nice man offered to climb in and reverse the car out for me. Glad he didn't drive off with the car, but solved the problem. From that point on when pregnant I parked in a far empty corner of the car park, or next to tree/blank space/ footpath etc so no-one can park too close!

Now we have a Fiat 500 so the car actually fits in spaces. I wouldn't buy a big 4x4 SUV type Chelsea tractor for several reasons, but being able to not worry about opening the door in standard size car parking spaces would be one.

Being "round" is definitely unhelpful. Also a low slung sporty style car isn't either.

If someone did this to me I'd be knackered on both counts...! 😂

I'd initially try squeezing in, with my door resting on the other car, but if it was likely to damage my car door (OK, or theirs), then I'd go back in to the shop (if it was a shop car park) and ask them to put an announcement out. Or I'd wait for a bit initially and then go in and ask.

If there's no joy then, I'd be well and truly knackered as there's absolutely no way my lack of flexibility, curves and high centre console would allow me to climb over from the passenger side or boot!

Get in the passenger side, let the handbrake off and steer the car forwards a few feet then reapply the handbrake and hey presto you can get in the driver’s side!

I wouldn't so, it will suck for them. Having said, they'll be the wiser next time.

I'm reading that and I am thinking sociopath

There are people talking about not caring if they cause damage with car doors, or writing offensive words in lipstick, and a person parking correctly in the middle of their spot is the sociopath?

A person who makes an absolute principle of parking someone in who has committed the cardinal sin of not parking dead centre in a spot (probably because they couldn't as the car adjacent to them was off centre) has issues, yes

"cardinal sin" - Absolutely.

"probably because they couldn't as the car adjacent to them was off centre" - very unlikely. Assumptions are fine, but not factual. I would say "probably" because they don't have the spacial awareness of how to park.

"I think this makes you a bit of a dick" - I'm perfectly happy with that. But as I said, the bigger dick would be the person not parking correctly in the first place.

"I'm reading that and I am thinking sociopath" - I think it's the otherway around no? Aren't you being the sociopath for having lack of remorse for your actions? Having complete disregard to spacial awareness and the problems it causes your fellow drivers?

Oh the hypocrisy of it all :).

How much does your lipstick cost? I reckon you'd get through a whole tube writing on everything.

Get in the passenger side, let the handbrake off and steer the car forwards a few feet then reapply the handbrake and hey presto you can get in the driver’s side!

That could work, but it very much depends on whether or not you're parked on an incline - and one that inclines in the right direction - unless you're driving the Flintstones' car and can put your feet through the floor to gain purchase.

Also, too much of an incline and it could be seriously dangerous if the car runs away with itself; also, doing it on any incline isn't good for your handbrake.

I just think it's unhinged to set yourself up as the moral arbiter of what YOU think is appropriate parking, and to deliberately goad other drivers by purposely parking you car so that they can't open their door.

I am no moral arbiter by any standards, I am simply parking into a bay, correctly, and centrally. If this affects another driver not being able to open their doors, not my problem. Whether I do this deliberately or not, the outcome will be the same.

A UK driving test requires you to be able to successfully park within a bay.

The fascinating part is, I'm the one in the wrong in your eyes considering other drivers haven't parked correctly and they're the victim? How strange.

Yes, you are in the wrong for your dogged inflexibility. Obviously people should park neatly and properly centered within a space, but some common sense is required - it's not always possible because of other people's parking which impinges upon your own parking space. Do you, for example, expect an older person to be lithe and fit enough to exit their vehicle with only a few centimetres clearance? That's what you are asking if you demand that everyone parks perfectly centrally with the lines even when the adjacent car is impinging on their space.

I don't think you really believe this - I suspect you are feeling a bit bored and goady.

If someone can't park without impinging on the next space then they should just take the next space instead and leave the middle one for a small car that will fit.

If someone can't park without impinging on the next space then they should just take the next space instead and leave the middle one for a small car that will fit.

To be honest, with the size of most parking spaces and even the smallest models of cars these days, if somebody even parks on to the white line, they've effectively rendered the next space unusable and taken two spaces.

I think a lot of people do this deliberately, as they know that parking right in the middle of two spaces would look hugely arrogant, whereas parking just on to/an inch or two over the white line looks a lot more subtle but still achieves the same thing.

I hate this. Twice in as many days I've had to balance the car seat on my passenger seat and pull out the space as cars have parked so close I can't get DS car seat back into the car. If I'm on my own I can't exactly leave him alone in the car park floor whilst I pull out. I have a car seat both sides, toddler and newborn so it's a real nightmare.
The lack of parent and child bays that are generally wider is a real problem.
I usually have a newborn, a 2 year old and a double buggy to get out the car (&in again) so if I don't have space around the car I'm basically fucked.

Agree that a lot of parking spaces are tiny nowadays. I've got a pickup truck for work which I need to get around muddy building sites. It's a nightmare parking it in some places.

I'm not feeling bored, or goady. I'm just sticking to my principles. I'm not demanding anything, I am parking correctly. If this affects other drivers, like I said, it's not my problem.

You can think what you want, some people will agree with me, and some won't.

Based on you calling me a dick, sociopath, bored and goady - I suspect you're someone who like's to parade their opinions as the truth, but have no room for another point of view. It's delusional, and a bit narrow minded.

That's not the case - I am always happy to change my opinion when presented with an argument / evidence that I haven't considered. I really shouldn't have called you any of those things and I do apologise, but I was absolutely thrown by your intractability on this (I honestly thought you were trolling at one point - but accept that you weren't). I'm still askance that you think this is the right way to behave in these circumstances - but it's plain that we are not going to agree so I will leave it there with my apologies for rudeness