Another dropped kerb question!

[MulledWhiney]

Inspired by the dropped kerb thread earlier this week, I’d love some opinions on my own situation. I’ve tried to be objective and disguise whether I am House A or House B, and spent my lunch break drawing this diagram to help!

House A has a double drive (side-by-side spaces, picture isn’t wide enough to show all of the drive) behind the house. House A has one car, (yellow) which always parks on the road in front of House A. No cars park on House A’s drive.

House B has a T-shaped drive. You could fit two small cars side-by-side, but not the two cars that belong to House B (red car is a big car). These always park in the configuration on House B’s drive as shown, and it is never used as a double side by side drive.

The orange line indicates a dropped kerb, brown indicates driveway and green is grass/bushes. The road is a cul-de-sac with a wall on the right hand side of the picture.

House B’s occupants regularly ask House A’s occupants to move the yellow car, on grounds of struggling to get in/out of the driveway. House A then move the car closer to the wall/further back (up and right on the picture).

House A thinks House B can get out perfectly fine, and it is closer to park in front of the house than the driveway at the back. It is hard to parallel park by a wall, which is why space is left between the car and the wall. The front of the car is facing down on the picture, so the driver’s side is not against the wall.

House B thinks House A should park on their own driveway, and not block the dropped kerb of House B.

All exchanges have been very friendly and light-hearted, but there is clearly a difference of opinion about where it is/isn’t ok to park (as well as a difference in opinion about how much space is needed to manoeuvre a car out of a drive 😂).

Do you think it is ok for House A to park the yellow car there? It is always blocking some (but not over half) of the dropped kerb, but how close House A can park the yellow car to the wall and how easy/possible it is for House B to get the red car out is a difference of opinion (or driving capability!) It’s a new build estate and we both moved in around 6 months ago.

Why can't house A just park car A on drive A????

I can see how house B struggles. House A is being a bit of a dick.

Oh my goodness

I love that image

I live in an area where all the parking is at the back and everyone refused to use it, blocking up all the streets and driveway. They knew it had parking further from the house when they bought house A so I think it’s very annoying they won’t use it and keep blocking B in. However I don’t think there is much that can be done about the part of the road you don’t own the bit they park on. I would get advice about parking in front of a dropped kerb - whether you are A or B

This. Why the hell isn't House A just parking on their own drive? 🤔

A is being a dickhead.

Park car on drive. Sorted
.

A is a dick.

Also its against the law to block a dropped curb......but kudos on the fantastic drawing op

because its clearly further to walk to their front door so they decided instead of buying a house with parking directly outside to just block someone else’s driveway instead? Entitled IMO
I would be finding out the rules about blocking drives and then make it clear it’s ’no parking’ if you can get permission - can you ask the local authority?

A is blocking part of a dropped kerb daily? That’s awful. A should park on their driveway.

I'm going to assume you're house B op. If not, I apologise, as house A is a total dick

House A should just park on their own drive.

A is an arsehole. Why do people buy houses knowing full well where the parking for their house is then refuse to use it, not caring about inconveniencing their neighbours? In my ideal world, there'd be fines for this twattish behaviour.

Parking over a dropped kerb is a no no. I’d stop being quite so friendly about it tbh.

@Lori78i That never even occurred to me even though I studied the diagram 😂 Our parking is exactly like this (around the corner from our new build house) but we knew that when we bought it so, though annoying, we park there because that's where our space is. Plus, our insurance would be higher if we parked on the road instead of the driveway 🤔

House A is entitled to use the road for parking, if it is a Council adopted road. So no-one should be trying to insist that they park on their driveway. But you are not allowed to obstruct the road or to park over a dropped kerb.

In fact if A continued to block my dropped kerb I might accidentally take out some of those shrubs, as I struggled to get by the yellow car, and left enough room so I didn’t scratch it

House B needs to park where the yellow car is. Sorted.

Nice diagram OP!

It implies that the yellow car is parking in front of a dropped kerb every day?

If that's correct then A are dicks and B needs to stop being polite and tell them not to block them in all the time!

House A is a dickhead, they're parked over the dropped kerb hence blocking house B in.
It's a parking offence to park over a dropped kerb, a penalty notice could be issued.
If you're house A op, give your head a wobble and behave yourself 😁

Yes that's probably the best answer.

This

Thanks for the love on the diagram!

Having looked up the Highway Code about parking over a dropped kerb, I can only find points that refer to dropped kerbs for access for mobility scooters/wheelchairs. There is another point that says you must not block the entrance to a property.

House A believes that the yellow car is not blocking the entrance.

If House B were to park in that spot, it feels a bit petty? (And will change insurance etc)

It is hard to remain neutral and I fear I am giving away whether I am A or B 😂😂😂

It is hard to parallel park by a wall, which is why space is left between the car and the wall.

Why is it harder to parallel park beside a wall than a kerb?

You can't park across a dropped kerb, even if it's just your own property that you'd be obstructing access to. Think about it, if a traffic warden came along, how would they know whether the vehicle parked in that manner was owned by the person whose property was blocked or not?