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AIBU?

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Original poster

Would you report this or mind your own business?

250 replies

shadowkitty3 · 18/03/2023 18:47

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?

OP posts:
AskAwayAgain · 18/03/2023 19:58

Wht did you check his registration number? You sound like a busybody.

Jellykat · 18/03/2023 20:00

Poor bugger, leave him alone

uhOhOP · 18/03/2023 20:02

grayhairdontcare · 18/03/2023 19:57

Have you always been a sniffling busy body or has this just developed because you like kicking the less fortunate and keeping them down?

Does a concern for road safety make OP a "sniffling busy body"? What if the man killed somebody and it turned out the cause of the crash would have been picked up during an MOT test?

9outof10cats · 18/03/2023 20:02

Wow, flabbergasted by the number of people accusing the OP of being in the wrong for reporting a crime.

I abide by the law, pay my road tax and car insurance and get the yearly MOT - why the hell should other people not have to?

If you get into an accident with an insured driver and it is their fault, you will have to claim on your own insurance with the likely consequence you will lose no claims, and your insurance premiums will go up.

Yes, I would report him - you are doing nothing wrong, just ignore the idiots who think driving illegally is acceptable.

BCfan · 18/03/2023 20:04

Not everyone living in a van is poor.

Even if he was, doesn't mean he is above the law. I'd report - hate to think he could cause an accident that kills someone else because his van isn't maintained.

girlfriend44 · 18/03/2023 20:09

How do you live in a van anyway. How do you wash and eat etc.

Doesthepopeshitinthewoods · 18/03/2023 20:09

You want the police to seize the very last thing he has? The thing which has to act as his home? You think that’s the right thing to do, do you?

Doesthepopeshitinthewoods · 18/03/2023 20:10

9outof10cats · 18/03/2023 20:02

Wow, flabbergasted by the number of people accusing the OP of being in the wrong for reporting a crime.

I abide by the law, pay my road tax and car insurance and get the yearly MOT - why the hell should other people not have to?

If you get into an accident with an insured driver and it is their fault, you will have to claim on your own insurance with the likely consequence you will lose no claims, and your insurance premiums will go up.

Yes, I would report him - you are doing nothing wrong, just ignore the idiots who think driving illegally is acceptable.

I suspect we’re all looking at the bigger picture, and doing so with humanity.

9outof10cats · 18/03/2023 20:16

Doesthepopeshitinthewoods · 18/03/2023 20:10

I suspect we’re all looking at the bigger picture, and doing so with humanity.

Show quote history

Humanity is all well and good, but you also have to think of the wider community and the people who could be harmed by someone driving a vehicle which could be unroadworthy.

barmycatmum · 18/03/2023 20:18

He’s not harming anyone. :( let the poor guy alone

iwontforgetyoumyfriendwhathappened · 18/03/2023 20:18

@Doesthepopeshitinthewoods so to be clear, you're fine with the danger to everyone else on the road? That's not just other drivers. That's your child walking to school, your mum friend walking with their baby, your parents out minding their own business.. their lives are somehow less valuable in the big picture?
I say this as someone who remembers clearly when someone drove straight off the road onto a pavement and over a baby in a pram. The baby did not survive, the mother and grandmother were badly injured. The driver had not had his vehicle MOT'd for years. The brakes were buggered and he'd presumed it would be ok because it had been ok for a few years so far.
So no, the humanity argument means nothing really. These things can and do happen. It's not scaremongering, It happened in the town I lived in at the time.
OP the fact so many are so loose with their attitude to illegal driving explains a lot of the accidents happening daily on UK roads unfortunately.

uhOhOP · 18/03/2023 20:19

Doesthepopeshitinthewoods · 18/03/2023 20:09

You want the police to seize the very last thing he has? The thing which has to act as his home? You think that’s the right thing to do, do you?

What do you think about the man driving around having not had his vehicle inspected for 4 years?

IfYouDontAsk · 18/03/2023 20:21

iwontforgetyoumyfriendwhathappened · 18/03/2023 20:18

@Doesthepopeshitinthewoods so to be clear, you're fine with the danger to everyone else on the road? That's not just other drivers. That's your child walking to school, your mum friend walking with their baby, your parents out minding their own business.. their lives are somehow less valuable in the big picture?
I say this as someone who remembers clearly when someone drove straight off the road onto a pavement and over a baby in a pram. The baby did not survive, the mother and grandmother were badly injured. The driver had not had his vehicle MOT'd for years. The brakes were buggered and he'd presumed it would be ok because it had been ok for a few years so far.
So no, the humanity argument means nothing really. These things can and do happen. It's not scaremongering, It happened in the town I lived in at the time.
OP the fact so many are so loose with their attitude to illegal driving explains a lot of the accidents happening daily on UK roads unfortunately.

Hear hear. The incident you describe is absolutely heartbreaking.

ExasperatedbyJanuary · 18/03/2023 20:22

Wow, flabbergasted by the number of people accusing the OP of being in the wrong for reporting a crime.

It’s just because the first couple of posters did this. That’s all.

PrincessToad · 18/03/2023 20:22

You've got a lot of time on your hands, haven't you?

HappyScotch · 18/03/2023 20:24

Unbelievable

Eranzer · 18/03/2023 20:25

Fucking hell fire. Some people are so painfully shitty.
No, leave the dude alone, poke your nose out. Busy body

AcornGreen · 18/03/2023 20:30

Someone needs to sit you down and have a word with you.

BaroldFromEastenders · 18/03/2023 20:33

I’d report it in a heartbeat. You’re definitely not a cunt for doing so and it’s not up to you to fundraise for him to get his van MOTd like someone suggested.

His situation is not a reason to let him get on with potentially putting other peoples lives at risk.

Dontfeedtheseagulls · 18/03/2023 20:34

Sorry dear but how do you accidentally look up all these details?

It sounds like you don't like him bringing the tone down and have been wanting for months to see him kicked further down.

Something in you has stopped you doing that.

That thing is called conscience.

Listen to it.

ExasperatedbyJanuary · 18/03/2023 20:34

Would any of the tedious ‘you meanie’ posters care to engage with the very valid points pp have made about the dangers of unregulated vehicles? No?

BaroldFromEastenders · 18/03/2023 20:34

barmycatmum · 18/03/2023 20:18

He’s not harming anyone. :( let the poor guy alone

well he might if the brakes on his van fail because it’s unroadworthy

uhOhOP · 18/03/2023 20:35

AcornGreen · 18/03/2023 20:30

Someone needs to sit you down and have a word with you.

Are you able to address the MOT test element of the OP, and the fact that the vehicle in question hasn't been inspected for 4 years and could very well be unroadworthy. It could injure or kill somebody as a direct result of having missed 4 mandatory inspections. It could even kill the driver.

Redglitter · 18/03/2023 20:37

barmycatmum · 18/03/2023 20:18

He’s not harming anyone. :( let the poor guy alone

Until his unroadworthy van causes or is involved in an accident.

It's had no MOT for 4 years!!!! It's a potential death trap.

I cant get over the OP checking out the reg no though. That just smacks of someone trying to cause trouble

LakeTiticaca · 18/03/2023 20:40

barmycatmum · 18/03/2023 20:18

He’s not harming anyone. :( let the poor guy alone

How do you know he's not harming anyone? Do you know him? He could be burgling old ladies, he could be a flasher, he could be an abusive partner whose had to leave his home. Not everyone who is homeless is automatically nice!!