Would you report this or mind your own business?

[shadowkitty3]

There is a man who lives in a van in my town. For the last year or so he has been parked in a particular public car park. He is definitely homeless and lives in the van.

Out of curiosity I put the numberplate into the online car tax checker a few months ago. The van is SORN and the MOT expired four years ago.

So he shouldn't be parked there if the vehicle is SORN but I thought, it's none of my business and not up to me to do anything about it.

However, I've now noticed he has been driving the van around on the road. The van had moved to another part of the car park this week, and another time I saw it actually driving on the main road in the town.

This is concerning as he obviously doesn't have insurance and the vehicle doesn't even have an MOT. I don't know if I should report this to the police, but obviously no one else in the town has bothered. What would you do?

I've seen some disgusting displays of callousness and privilege on this site over the years but this thread is something else.

I don't think anybody on this thread has displayed either callousness or privilege. You just don't like what we are saying – that it's not good to drive a potentially unroadworthy vehicle – because of the added issue of homelessness, which you're using to justify not having had an MOT test for 4 years. (It's "you" as in all of you who don't understand driving safety, not you specifically.) After all, as people have said, if somebody started a thread saying "I'm not able to afford my MOT test this year, AIBU to carry on driving without having one?", the responses would likely be outrage across the board.

There's plenty of illegal things I wouldn't grass people up for. Benefit fraud for example. I'm quite fed up of living in a society where the rich and powerful get to do whatever the fuck they want and any minor infringement by a poor or average person is jumped on.

Fuck that shit...I'm having no part of it

This

I'm sorry he is homeless and glad that he has the van to sleep in but there is no excuse for him to be driving it illegally around town. Wonder how many would "give the poor guy a chance" if he wrote their car off with no insurance

Because cars with a valid mot are never involved in road traffic accidents?

Out of interest, why are you advocating driving a non-roadworthy vehicle? Weirdo.

I'm not @Inkypot . I'm saying I wouldn't report someone else.

As for calling me a weirdo...I won't say what I want to call you...but let's just say comprehension is clearly not your strong point as you wrongly assumed I was suggesting people should drive unroadworthy vehicles. I wasn't.

But if they said I've also lost my home and have nowhere to sleep except in my vehicle which I must move every couple of days I like to think people might be sympathetic. Or maybe not.

"Reading comprehension" doesn't really work as a dig here because comprehension is about more than just the actual words you've written. It is easily comprehended from everything you've posted that you think this particular crime and immoral action is okay because "Prince Andrew, lockdown, bent police forces", as well as the tone you use.

Your position is also clear from what you haven't said, that the OP would be doing a good thing (on some level) to help take this vehicle off the road.

I believe your first post on this thread was "get a life, OP". That says everything about what you think about people driving unroadworthy vehicles.

It's not "ok" . I just don't think it's so horrendous that I'd feel compelled to report someone.

I'm sure they would indeed be sympathetic, but it would be at the same time as pointing out the risks of driving without having had the vehicle inspected.

Turning a blind eye is not the same as encouraging someone to commit a crime. If I saw someone attempt to kidnap a child, I obviously wouldn't keep quiet. If I saw someone being mugged I wouldn't turn away. If I know someone doesn't have a TV licence or if I saw someone shoplifting, then I'd do precisely nothing. I'm not in the police.

Inappropriate but that made me proper laugh!

Yanbu.

So is it a good idea for this vehicle to be off the road until it passes an MOT test?

Or is it okay for the man to keep driving it?

Harassing a homeless man is very low and you should educate yourself on what being homeless is truly like. It’s hell and people like you make it even worse. Also my insurance covers it is an uninsured driver is at fault- doesn’t everyone’s do that?

how about you contact the council
about homing the poor man? Or helping him out to get an MOT/ tax/ insurance.

The vehicle hasn't been through an MOT inspection for 4 years. There could be problems with the van that reduce how safe it is on the roads. Why should all of us – other car drivers, those of us on two wheels, pedestrians – be put at even greater risk as we go about our business, all for the sake of £30?

And, really, there must be issues with the van. An MOT test costs so little and barely takes any time that I'm inclined to think the owner doesn't want the van to fail and to be told that it will cost several hundred pounds to pass.

So is it a good idea for this vehicle to be off the road until it passes an MOT test?

Or is it okay for the man to keep driving it?

Obviously it's better for a vehicle to have an MOT rather than not have one. I just wouldn't report him. The police can do their job.

As somebody pointed out earlier in the thread, when a crime is being committed, we don't actually have to wait for the police to happen upon the situation. They are contactable by phone and can be alerted to the crime.

Pay his car tax or mind your OWN business.

Road safety is everybody's business. What do you think about the van having not had an MOT test for 4 years?

So it seems the Mumsnet standard for reporting dangerous driving is no licence and not living in the vehicle because everyone on this thread is in agreement that an unlicensed driver driving a potentially untaxed/insured car is dangerous.

And were you to suffer damage from an uninsured driver, you'd be quite happy?