A parking one!

[prettyprinceofpartiez]

We live on a quiet road on an estate in which everyone has a drive with at least one parking space on it. Outside our house we have a small path leading to our front door and our driveway with a dropped kerb to our right. Admittedly outside our house isn't a dropped kerb and the pavement runs alongside our front room so our view is literally the street.

The people on the road behind us (who have their own driveway!) have taken to parking outside our house, next to our path, mounting the kerb as there is a shortcut path to their road from by our house. After several months of this, I left a polite note asking them to park further along as they have blocked access to our path. They've done so but are now parking right outside our house and front window! I know it's not ours, but really?? Why on earth would we want a view of their car right outside our house? Why not park on their own driveway?

AIBU or am I right to feel pure rage when I look out and see them parked right outside??

Having trouble seeing the funny side are we?

There’s no funny side to see.

Sadly it's a public road so you have no power to stop them parking there.

Park outside their house. Do it!

Agreed. This is extremely serious. The OP’s view is at stake.

Why can’t you park your first car on the pavement outside your house now. No need to wait a few months until you get the second car - you can make it difficult for them now and they may get the message.

If I were you I would just consciously decide that you’re not going to get wound up by people who are parking outside your house if they’ve parked safely and legally. Life is too short, you can’t reasonably ask them not to park there so there’s no point getting riled up by it.

They shouldn’t be driving onto your drive to turnaround though.

Why wait? Just park there now.

If would prove me the rage . I know it’s legal , but it’s odd . I would park my own car there

I would wait until I got the second car you’ve mentioned, then park both outside my place and outside theirs. Feign ignorance if they complain “oh it’s a public road, and taking the path is convenient for me”.
But I have form for being entirely unreasonable and petty enough to escalate.

Is theirs an expensive car Op? The reason I ask is perhaps they're thinking that if anyone comes to steal the car, they'll break into your house looking for the keys, rather than their own house?

A neighbour of mine parks his very expensive car away from his house for this very reason, although to be fair to him, given where he parks his car, you wouldn't know which house it belongs to (so no other house would be targeted for the keys either).

I used to think he was a bit strange for doing it but then our house was broken into specifically for our BMW & now I wish I'd done it too!

FWIW, I wouldn't wait for a 2nd car but would start using the space now and if they ask why, be direct and tell them you don't like looking at their car (or you could use the above as an excuse and say you're worried your house will be targeted by thieves because of their nice car being outside!)

Good luck in getting it sorted as whilst it is legal, it's also a complete dick move & I'd hate it!

If they are parking outside your house and leaving their driveway empty, how about you do the same?

See how they like it

Your diagram wins the award for the worst and most incomprehensible ever in the history of MN parking threads (of which I'm and avid follower/fan 😬).

That said, they are being weird and nuts and I'd leave a note on the windscreen whenever they park on the pavement and block the path. And I'd also park my own car there.

Some people are just thoughtless. And weird.

Or park on their empty driveway