To think that you can’t just close a road like this!

[RoadClosed]

Came home from work a few weeks ago (2:30pm) and our road had “road closed” signs on it. Highly unusual as it’s a quiet one way street with a couple of cul-de-sacs leading off it. I parked up and walked the rest of the way home (only 2 minutes, it’s not a long road). When DH came home he said the road wasn’t closed - no signs of it ever being closed.

A few days later same thing, 2:30pm - road closed. No signs of work going on, so I moved the sign and drove to my house. A neighbour text me same day asking why the road is closed as there is no work going on. I said I had no idea so he rang council to ask - they had no idea either and said nobody had applied to close the road either. Therefore we all just moved these signs off the road whenever we saw them and drove past.

Long story short - a woman down the street then went knocking on doors asking people not to move the signs as they were put there during the day to make the street safe for kids to play on!! By kids she means her son. It was explained to her that she can’t just close the road for this reason! Her reasoning is that it’s a short street and it’s only a short walk from the signs to any of the houses on the street. She was told that this isn’t the point, people have a right to be able to drive to their driveways! She’s continuing to put the signs up between 10am and 3pm. AWBU to continue ignoring them??

I see this attitude everyday on the roads from drivers - but actually they are for everyone to share, drivers don't own the roads

I'm not suggesting they do. But they do pay road tax.

Please note i am not defending this action... however there is now a scheme in my area you can do this it was sent out via school email HOWEVER you have to apply and its at like 1 day of the week and someone of some standing does it. She maybe the same area and got confused?

Cancel the Cheque is Mumsnet slang for people keep repeating the same advice I.e. Play streets.

Ive been hear for around 18 years - obviously ive only just struck on the nasty posters - been lucky so for many years

But they do pay road tax.

you that mythical tax that drivers quote to pretend they own a road or two

council tax pays for road maintenance and vehicle tax is based on emissions, so may cars don't pay it and it goes in the general pot

Er, road tax hasn’t existed in the UK since the 1930s.

VED and fuel tax cover piss all - drivers are heavily subsidized in the UK.

she implied that in her country this is a regular thing, I tried to gently explain that it’s not the done thing here but she couldn’t understand what the issue was

She seems to have a very convenient 'understanding' of English, it happening in her country, or not, is irrelevant, she's not in 'her country'.

she's not in 'her country'.

no but we eat curry here, now that was a great import

Curry? We also eat pasta, tacos, Schwarzwalderkirschtorte, borscht as well.

I honestly would not want to teach my child they have to ‘share’ roads with cars. I taught mine roads are dangerous and stick to the paths.

The consequences of an ambulance or fire engine not being able to get through would be far worse, obvs, but it's far less common for an emergency vehicle to come along most residential roads than a supermarket delivery van.

I also suspect that firefighters would just move the signs anyway. They bounce parked cars out of the way if they can't get through (at least, according to a fireman ex boyfriend of mine).

I honestly would not want to teach my child they have to ‘share’ roads with cars. I taught mine roads are dangerous and stick to the paths.

40 people a year on average are killed on the path by drivers, so teaching your child to stick to the path isn't going to work - thats why it'd be useful for safety imo to teach drivers to share and be more careful of others on the highways

Where did she get the sign from? I mean, is there a road with ongoing works where traffic is now passing willy-nilly and falling down holes because someone has robbed off with the road closed sign?! 😬

New developments should be designed with cul de sacs and an entrance road with multi space parking (assigned and accessible with resident fob). Then residents walk from the car park to their houses and the kids can play out on their street whenever they want. Shopping trolleys are useful for carting stuff from car park to house. Obviously there will be permits for disabled to access their own house.

But but but....... what about MEEEEE and MY xyz etc. Go on then argue the point.

I'd be picking up the signs, putting them in my car and taking them to the tip. You'd be doing a public service tidying up an obstruction on a public road.

What if someone needed an ambulance? Should the paramedics park up and jog down the road?

More are killed on the roads though. Even as someone who's been knocked down on the footpath I think teaching young children to stick to footpaths is a sensible and easy to understand rule.

I would definitely do this and report to the police too. Surely it's illegal to obstruct the public highway. 😳

There’s an offence of obstructing the public highway. Call the police next time she does it. We recently marshalled a march and it accidentally ended up on the road. We tried to stop traffic for safety and the police were furious with us (reminded us that legally we had no right to do so, which I completely understand).

Report her to the council, they’ll soon put her straight. We had someone paint their own disabled space and someone else put up a speed limit sign which was 10mph below the actual limit. The council removed both of them.

No YANBU. The simple and sensible course of action is to keep moving it out the way and continue to report until it gets sorted by the authorities.

I admit though, I would find it hard not to have a bit of fun with this situation and get creative...

I tried to gently explain that it’s not the done thing here

That was your mistake. Shes clearly no shrinking Violet. You will need to explain in clear, simple, language that it's not permitted and she should desist.

Do you know where she's from? I've never heard of this, I'd like to know where this happens!

So there's a perfectly good walkway suitable for small children to ride their scooters just a short, er, scoot away? In this context the Play Streets initiative seems irrelevant. Fair enough for an inner city street a bus ride from the nearest play area, but it's not the case here. It's just that the parent CBA to go to a nearby facility because she would then have to actually supervise her own child - which she should be doing anyway, even if he is just outside the front door. I'll remember the name of the poster in a minute (Mrs C?) whose idiot ex-husband bought their small child an electric three-wheeler or some such, which he promptly fell off and hurt himself quite badly.

If you’re going to quote figures, how many people are killed on the actual road?

Basically she wants him to play out where she doesn’t need to be outside with him.

There's no such place for a three year old.

Not unless the parent actively wants to win him a Darwin Award.

Move the signs. Every. Single. Time.
And report again and again until she stops.