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?

Unless it’s causing you personal disruption (like making a lot of noise by your house) just leave him to it. It’s sad he’s in that position

People saying what about the risks to other drivers, what about the risks to him if he loses his only shelter? That's probably going to cause a far higher risk of death or serious harm to him than him driving (likely very short journeys) in this van.

In the last 4 years of MOTs on my car (which is not especially new) no faults have been found, so it could be absolutely fine.

If you really cared, you'd do something practical to help him, not to make his life harder.

And I'd be scared for her karma if she didn't report him, he caused an accident and someone was hurt or killed and she could have prevented it with a simple phone call

The point that most people on this thread are failing to understand is that this curtain twitching Hyacinth has taken it upon herself to check up on the vehicle of the local homeless man.

I’d bet my Mother’s Day card that she isn't checking up on her neighbours 2nd Mercedes that they only drive occasionally. She’s not checking up on a colleague when she drives her husbands BMW to work instead of her own car.

It’s all virtue signaling, pearl clutching, could have, be kind to society, they/them, woke, hysterical madness.

It’s Mother’s Day. Let’s all get a long and get back to shouting at our husbands if they haven’t booked a nice lunch out.

But at this point, it is irrelevant how OP knows about the lack of MOT. It’s all very well you getting all emotive about Hyacinth Bucket types (nice bit of misogyny too!) but have you got any actual arguments as to why it’s ok for one person to drive a non-roadworthy car, putting people in direct danger of the sort we’ve heard about on this very thread, when the rest of us abide by the law? I’m asking you directly how you would feel about people driving unsafe vehicles if someone you knew was hurt/killed in that scenario? Would you still be all #bekind about it?

There are support services that the police can refer him to and perhaps the best thing the OP can do is make him known to the authorities so they can signpost him to the most appropriate resources to support him?

In the last 4 years I had no issues for 3 of them with my car, on the latest one my car had a minor fail for the headlight adjuster not working ... I never adjust the headlight settings so was totally unaware of the issue until the MOT. Is it going to be a life saving thing to have replaced it? Probably not, but the MOT is there to pick up small things that make the car unsafe to stop them becoming big things that cause accidents, hence why they're mandatory. Also two of the tyres came up as advisories to monitor as they weren't fail worthy yet but may not last till the next one. Now I am aware I can keep an eye on them and ensure they are replaced before they become dangerous.

The MOT is to check your car for roadworthiness ... If he has nothing to worry about then it will be a one off cost of about £30 (difficult if homeless but not impossible, especially if he has the money to be putting petrol in he has an income from somewhere) unless he knows that it will fail and cost more which is why he's knowingly driving a dangerous vehicle and we as a society should not be condoning dangerous vehicles being on the road.

The OP hasn't really been back. Odd thread to name change for then pretty much disappear from while people continue to argue.

@AcornGreen
Have you bothered to contact OP to get details of this crime so you can report it. If not why?

Don’t be ridiculous. You’re really clutching at straws here!

None of us on this thread even know if this is a real scenario. It could be an experiment to see whether a subset of MNers automatically turn on an OP even if common sense, the law and safety are on OP’s side. And guess what? They do!!

Why do you care? Leave him alone and mind your own business. Do you not have anything better to do with your life ? Goodness me 😒

Do you play armchair detective for everything you find gossip worthy where you live, or do you just get a kick out of stalking homeless people. What a busybody.

If he's not got insurance I'd report him. Otherwise poor soul, who can least afford it may have a repair bill to face or worse, lose their car altogether.

I never even thought about reporting it when I didn't think the van was ever moved. What's alarming is he is driving it on the roads in the town.

I don't know why he is living in the van but I've seen him frequently in the shops buying cigarettes so he must have some cash. And no I am not being snobby, that is what I've seen him buying, but that doesn't affect how I feel about him driving about with no MOT. I'm talking purely about the safety aspect, and I would feel the same if it was a homeless man or the local GP.

Regardless of how the OP knows, she does know and she would not be wrong to report it.

It's Mother's Day and my SIL could be celebrating hers with all three of her children, and her sister's children could hand their mother flowers instead of laying some on her grave if someone had reported the dangerous driver that killed them.

I have checked on the status of various vehicles in my town - ones that have been left in dangerous positions on the road, others that have been driving dangerously, others that just don't seem to have been moved in a long time and nobody seems to own - so I can see whether it's worth reporting them to the authorities.

For example there was a broken down car dumped on the road outside my work for 6 months. It wasn't parked illegally but it was parked awkwardly at the entrance to the car park so you couldn't use both lanes, this meant that at shift changeover you could be waiting ages to get in/out as it became a one way system due to the car. After a couple of months of it not moving we checked online and saw it was still taxed and MOTed so there was no point reporting it as nobody would do anything as it was legally allowed to be on the road. As soon as the tax and MOT expired we reported it and it was towed away.

@melj1213
I fear you’re wasting your time using reason against the ‘be kind’ virtue-signallers.

I agree with you: it’s irrelevant how OP knows. It’s irrelevant that she maybe doesn’t check up on the other cars in her road. Because in this specific case her suspicions were right.

I remember reading that story. Absolutely tragic.

While I wouldn't have checked in the first place if his car was mot and road tax valid, if I found out the van definitely wasn't roadworthy and he was driving it around then I would report. While I'd be sorry if he was infact homeless his needs don't outweigh the safety if the wider public I'm afraid.

I'm so very sorry that happened to your family.

The irony of people saying I'm a busy body for checking a car's MOT/tax status, and then proceeding to search my username on Mumsnet to see my post history is not lost on me.

I would not report if he didn’t drive it. But he does and it’s increasingly likely to be dangerous.

If there is misogyny then report it and MN will remove it. But since when is a biological woman playing an iconic sitcoms role misogyny? Do you prefer Mrs Brows Boys to represent women?

Why do you believe I think it’s ok for someone to drive a non roadworthy car? Can you quote me?

Why do you want to know about the personal opinions of a random woman on the internet? Are you so easily swayed?

I’ve mocked the be kind bunch on here so I’m not sure why you’re assuming I’m bing kind. Do you think I’m being particularly kind to you?

Anyway happy Mother’s Day. Or as you call
it - special persons day.

It is infuriating because people will complain if you want to report things that are dangerous/illegal, citing "live and let live" or #BeKind but as soon as something terrible happens people are up in arms "Why did nobody report them before they caused this terrible tragedy?"

Everyone always thinks "It'll never happen" or you're being over dramatic but having seen first hand the devastation caused by someone whose driving without an MOT directly lead to the death of two people and life changing injuries to others it is really hard to understand how people justify berating someone for wanting to do the right thing by keeping everyone safe.

If the AIBU was "He never drives it, ever, but it's untaxed/insured/MOTed should I report?" Then I would have no issue with people saying leave it be, but the second he took the van on the public road he was no longer just living his life, he's actively putting other people in danger and the OP knows this and wants to do something to keep everyone safe - including the driver.

It's relevant.

I bet she isn't policing the middle class drunk drivers, non-insured car-borrowers, & "just a bit of fun at the weekend" cokeheads.

How do you know the OP hasn't looked up any other cars?

I personally have looked up numerous cars in my town that have either been actively doing something dangerous or there has been unusual activity (eg an abandoned car that hasn't moved for 6months that suddenly moves positions a few times overnight but nobody has ever been seen in the car) but I haven't posted about them.

It's also pretty common on my local "terrible drivers and awful parking" FB group for someone to post a car that has been parked badly or being driven dangerously and a comment to be posted showing its MOT and tax status to support/discourage the OP from reporting it.

Or just people who have had family members killed by someone driving an untaxed and MOTed vehicle who knows how dangerous this is ...