Parking issues

[pollypocke]

Hi all,

For a bit of context, I live on a row of 6 town houses (double fronted terraces) there are another 6 on the opposite side. The lady who lives on the end house on the opposite side has a driveway, no other houses have driveways apart from the end ones. There is a concrete bollard to mark where her driveway starts so no one can block it by parking over the driveway. My OH has a work van (not huge) and one night parked it outside of her house and about a meter away from the concrete bollard. She came over and knocked on our door and asked my OH to move his van because she couldn't see the road coming out of her driveway. He did the first time she asked as he was being polite but when he parked there again she came knocking again and asked him to reverse back away from the concrete bollard so she'd be able to see better. Bear in mind there is limited parking on our street and if OH had reversed he'd be taking up 2 spaces which hardly seems fair given the lady has her own driveway.
Anyway, my OH refused to move his van the second time but was very polite and just said he didn't want to take up 2 spaces. She went off in a huff and was clearly annoyed.

So now, she parks her own car outside of her house but just far enough away from the concrete bollard that no one else can park in front of her and her partner still parks on their drive. Their drive is big enough for 3 cars and originally they always parked their cars on the drive.

My OH wasn't malicious or mardy, he simply said if there was no other space on the street then he'd carry on parking the way he has because he's not done anything wrong but this seems to have not been good enough so she's made sure he can't park there by parking her own car there even though she has her own drive.

AIBU to think this is a bit much, considering my OH wasn't breaking any rules and was parked perfectly legally

YABU - He should just take up 2 spaces so she has more space to see

If your OH is parking his van in a way which obstructs her visibility coming out of her driveway then YABU and he should park somewhere else.

People are always doing this where I live and it makes it really hard to drive off the driveway.

I think the most considerate thing would be for your OH to park so she can have visibility coming out of her drive but should not take up 2 spaces.

He's being inconsiderate, he should park somewhere else.

But that's why the bollard is there, to stop anyone obstructing her driveway and must be considered good enough by the council that she'll be able to see if any vehicle parks there as it's a public road

Yes and he does always park somewhere else if there's space, but if that's the only space on the street then surely he should be able to park there?

If there's other spaces available he does park somewhere else but when that's the only space that's the only time he parks there

He may not be parking illegally.

But maybe he's parking unreasonably. Vans are harder to see around than cars (generally speaking).

If there are no other spaces on the road, then of course he's not unreasonable to park where he did.

6 of one, half a dozen of the other.

It's hard to tell without photos but it does sound like she's being petty, is it a busy road with lots of traffic that makes getting out of her driveway difficult?

He could park on the next road?

I live in a cul de sac with limited parking. I have a drive but park on the road. I do this because often, people will park so I can't see to get off the drive or they'll park opposite the drive and it's not possible to get the angle needed to get off the drive (it's a slope). I'd probably do the same as your neighbour. She knows that he's not parking illegally so she's parked there instead to solve her issue.

It's hard to tell without a diagram / photo!

Your OH must have been parking elsewhere for long enough that it's only recently happened? Vans can be hard to see round, if he's not going to move it so they're able to see properly and get off the drive, then it makes sense they'd park in a way to prevent him parking there and stopping them leaving the drive.

If he's blocking her view so that she can't safely exit her drive, then he is being unreasonable. You don't have to be parking illegally to be parking badly.

I regularly have to pull out of a customers' driveway that's blocked because a van parks right up to the edge of the curb. It's so dangerous and I've had a few near misses as I just can't see the oncoming traffic at all.

Chances are that commercial vehicles aren’t meant to be parked in the street as well.

Firstly I'd say vans can often be harder to navigate around as they can be taller and often don't have windows so can't be seen through like cars can.

However, it isn't unreasonable for your dh to park in a free space but nor is it unreasonable for your neighbour to either.

She obviously finds it difficult to see around your dh's van. She asked to have it moved but it happened again.

So she's found another solution🤷🏻‍♂️

Your OH is being unreasonable if he is obstructing her view of the road.

I love how everyone assumes he absolutely is blocking her view from her drive. It is entirely possible that op's neighbour is just one of these people obsessed by what's parked outside their houses. Some people get a real b in their bonnet about work vans on residential streets. Sounds like she is being quite petty.

To answer a few questions, our street is a quiet residential street, 30mph speed limit, speed bumps ect.
The bollard is a good meter away from the edge of her driveway so it's not like he's parking right on the edge
I do agree that vans are harder to see around but surely that's just part of driving and owning a car?

We spoke to our next door neighbour and she said she's had a similar problem when her husband parked his taxi (8 seater) in the same spot and she asked him to move too so it's not just us. I think she must just need a lot of space to pull out but with limited parking it's a bit of a squeeze for everyone else

It's not her fault there's limited parking, though, and it doesn't mean that he can just park wherever he wants without consideration for anyone else.

If she only objects to vans/large vehicles parking there, then it sounds like a legitimate issue to me. Maybe she's had a couple of near misses and it's scared her.

I can’t picture what you mean by a bollard marking her driveway starting? Presumably she has a dropped kerb as well? I’d say that as long as he parks not across her dropped kerb and not right up to it to be very nice, then he’s good to go and she’s just being awkward?

I'm not surprised she is now doing this.

You should have negotiated a compromise. Until you do nothing will change.

Meanwhile- where is your diagram?

We have a twat with a works van in a residential area who always parks outside my window blocking my view and making it difficult to exit the drive. Always in front of our house so always just us impacted by it.

If your dh is parking a van he needs to be more considerate than car drivers.

Unfortunately I am married to our van driver twat so can’t really ask him to move it!

😂

If people parking affects visibility when pulling out, it makes sense to park across your own drive so you can see the road properly. Better than knocking a cyclist over because you can't see them.

As a PP said, some people get in a right flap about parking outside their homes, especially vans. My mother is one of them. She goes absolutely nuts if her neighbour parks his van outside her house. It has no impact on her at all. She doesnt even drive. But she's like a meerkat, constantly stretching up from the sofa, keeping lookout in case he comes home.