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

Where's the diagram? YABU for making people ask for one.

I don't understand why him moving the van along "takes up two spaces". Surely it would just leave a space for a car closer to her drive.

Yes, this.

Sorry for the terrible drawing, hopefully you can make out what it is 😂
Black square is neighbours house
Her drive is to the side of her house, in front of her house is grass/plants
The purple blob is where the bollard is
Red block is OH's van
Green blob is a tree so no one can park at that side anyway
Between the bollard and the tree the curb is dropped so it's a pretty big dropped curb

At that time when she asked him to move because of how other cars were parked it'd mean he'd have to reverse but not have enough space to reverse back enough to have space in front of him to park so he'd be taking up 2 spaces. Hope this makes sense I'm not very good at explaining things!

YANBU

It's difficult to tell whether the van actually blocks her depending on the how far the driveway extends. Even with the drawing. My street for example is narrow and hilly, so any large vehicle parked even a meter away makes it very difficult to see oncoming traffic because of my driveway's slope.
However, even if YANBU. What can you do about it?
It's a public space, there's no rule stating that you have to use your own driveway. She has as much right to park there, as he does.

It very much looks from your diagram that his van does obstruct her visibility on exiting her drive. Sure, he can park there but it’s a bit of a dick move if he knows that it makes it hard for her to see oncoming traffic.

If he isn't parking there then someone else would be

I have sympathy with both sides. Where my parents lived a whole lot of people further down the road used to park their vans (entirely legally) in the road outside my parents house rather than outside their own houses. It was genuinely impossible to see to turn out into the road, and there were a number of near misses, including a charming man who gave my elderly mum the finger as she crept out into the road and he came barrelling along at high speed overtaking the vans and nearly hit her.
Just because you can legally do something doesn't make it the considerate thing and most vans are hard to see past, and people passing them seem to be equally inconsiderate and impatient.

But probably not with a van.

We live on a street where the majority of us have 2 private spaces. Parking on the street is rare. One neighbour has 4 cars, so 2 go in his drive and 2 end up outside ‘Diane’s’ house (his own house has a shared path, so parking outside his own house would block another’s access to their 2 spaces). Diane is not happy about this, as she doesn’t like the view. I mean, I can see her point—I wouldn’t be happy about it either. Rightly or wrongly, I view it as inconsiderate when neighbours over-extend their car-to-house ratio. It is a public road however, so legally the neighbour is allowed to park outside Diane’s house. Diane has taken to parking her own car outside her house, leaving her 2 spaces empty, just so Mr 4-Cars can’t park there. The drama is real.

But seriously, even though it’s legal, I wouldn’t be pleased with a van or a taxi van always being outside my window either.

Not only that. It's also dangerous. Who takes responsibility for a collision occurring due to the lack of visibility?
Personally if I were her I'd park there too. Pissing others off is a small price to pay for safety.

If that's the case, surely he would be taking up two spaces whether he reversed back for her or not, though?

There's either room for a car and a van or there isn't - it shouldn't change depending on whether he stays parked right by her drive or not.

EDIT: Clarification.

Parking somewhere that is legal and where you are entitled to be isn’t the same as parking considerately and taking into account the requirements of others.

My OH has only parked there a handful of times if there is absolutely nowhere else available near our house.
Surely if it's that much of an issue for her then she shouldn't be driving? Yes it's inconvenient for her I agree but surely this isn't the first time she's come across having to pull out with a slightly obstructed view? If there's a van parked near a junction I'm sure she handles it fine. I know it's different with it being outside her house but as I say. It's been a handful of times if there's nowhere else to go.
I'm honestly shocked a lot of people are agreeing with my neighbour! I thought it was bonkers

It isn't inconvenient to pull out when your view is slightly obstructed. It's dangerous.

I live in a road where vans regularly park on or near the corner. I have to inch my way out and hope there's nothing coming. It scares the life out of me and the council have taken several measures to try to stop the poor parking. Unfortunately the idiot van drivers seem to be oblivious to the danger and how their parking affects others.

This. It’s not a matter of inconvenience.

Do you really, genuinely think she shouldn't be driving because your DP parks inconsiderately and blocks her from safely exiting her own driveway? 😬

If, on a handful of occasions, there's nowhere else for him to park, then he needs to leave his van elsewhere and walk home. Just like he'd have to do if there was a car or something in that spot. That's life when you have a big vehicle unfortunately.

The amount of times I've had to pull out of junctions/roundabouts and driveways when there's been an obstructed view is almost every time I go out! Surely you don't live somewhere where no one parks their cars on the road and you can see clearly without any obstruction on a regular journey?
It's part of bloody driving.

You expect him to park on a different road, where the van could be stolen or vandalised and he'd be none the wiser and walk home when there's a perfectly fine (and legal!) space opposite our house just because our neighbour MIGHT want to leave her driveway before he he moves his van to outsdie our own house? Unfortunately the world doesn't revolve around those with driveways

Nor does it revolve around selfish van drivers with absolutely zero consideration for anyone else

If he can't park on your road safely then of course he should park elsewhere. Whether it's legal (or not) doesn't really come into it IMO.

It’s so dangerous trying to pull out when there’s a large vehicle obstructing your view. A van or 7 seater will effectively cause you to have to pull out ‘blind’ into the road. It’s why it’s not legal to park within a certain distance of a junction. I suggest you apply to the council for a dropped kerb and turn your front garden over to a parking space for the van, or pay for a unit or lock up somewhere to keep it safe.

My OH will always park somewhere else if there's space on our street, even if it is further away. Her view is slightly obstructed by his van, but who says it isn't safe? Surely if she thought it wasn't safe she'd report it. The council have put a bollard there for a reason, they decided that was a safe distance from the dropped curb so that ANY vehicle can park there as it's a public street. I'm sure they took into consideration the vehicles parking there could be those other than cars. If not, I'd suggest she takes that up with the council and ask them to reconsider moving the bollard

If my neighbour pays for it then absolutely! 🤣 If not, he'll carry on parking in a space that's legal and for anyone to use