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

Well the council should care where they park seeing as though they own the majority of the houses. If my OH, multiple HA drivers and my neighbour parking their taxi there are all being selfish then it's a huge coincidence we all live so close together!
Has anyone stopped to ask whether she's just one of those people who are funny about parking spaces? She complained when my OH parked his van opposite her house (no impact on her drive or her life) over Christmas break (2 weeks) because she was 'sick of looking at it' and asked when he was moving it 🙃 I think she just has a problem with people parking anything that's not a car around our streets, even if it' doesn't impact her or anyone else

You're lovely! Luckily he's never had any issues and always gets parked up on our street 😃

Yeah I'll start writing down all the reg plates of every car owner I see parked at an inconvenience to someone else and take it to the council or police, I'm sure they've budgeted for that!
If they are parked dangerously, ie obstructing visibility at junctions then yes, you should report. It's illegal for them to do it and you could literally save somebody's life by doing it.

Ahh doubling down on you being in the right despite multiple posters telling you you're wrong

It's all opinion though isn't it, I suppose morally as well. Everyone has their own views. Just because mine aren't the same as yours doesn't make mine wrong and yours right, in my opinion :)

There is a road near me that has legal parking outside a row of shops, so vehicles are always changing, but it is very awkward to see if anything is coming without starting to cross. Vans make it worse because they stick out and up even further; just have to take the manoeuvre even more slowly.
Given that your neighbour has actually pointed out the difficulty the van causes, it would be nice to respect it.

she was 'sick of looking at it' and asked when he was moving it

Well that's different and she's definitely being unreasonable in that situation! Likewise a previous poster's description of her non-driver mum popping up like a meercat to check for vans made me lol.

I still think it would be courteous not to park where he's blocking her visibility though.

You asked AIBU

You've been almost unanimously told you are but you refuse to accept it

Work vans restrict views. I have struggled before. They shouldn't be parked in a residential idea. Although it's legal for him to park on the road, moyally he shouldn't as he could cause an accident due to restricted view. Yabu.

It's a pain in the arse having to pull out into traffic when your view is obstructed but I also thought that it was just part of driving and that vans had a right to be there to be honest! Surprised if that's not the case

You and me both! But apparently my OH should park away from our little residential estate and risk his van being stolen, vandalised or damaged because he can't keep an eye on it and have to have a nice little 1 hour walk home after he finishes work

We live on a residential estate, are you suggesting he doesn't park on our estate (never mind our own street) and leave his van somewhere where he won't be able to hear the alarm and walk home?

@ButWhatAboutTheBees I'm very stubborn! I just can't agree with some of the reasonings behind the YABU responses.
If people said YABU but at the same time YANBU because he's done nothing wrong but it's just a better idea to park elsewhere, I'd happily take it on board.
I will dig my heels in if I feel people are completely missing the point

He just shouldn't park where he's obstructing someone's driveway.

If that means he can't hear his van alarm then, well, that's life isn't it? What if the street was full when he came home from work?

Good grief, you are both supposed to have passed your driving test. Didn't either of you bother reading the Highway Code? Views at junctions should not be blocked. All vehicles need to be 10 metres away. No wonder the standard of driving has plummeted.

@INeedAnotherName All vehicles must be 10 meters away? So even if a car parks there then that's still too close?

@fieldsofbutterflies if the streets full then he just parks in the middle of the road and leaves his hazards on :)

In fairness, that doesn't apply to driveways.

@fieldsofbutterflies very true, but OP and another poster have said it's normal and part of driving to have visibility at junctions obscured. I'm trying to say no it's not normal and is in fact against the law. Anything that blocks visibility for someone trying to enter the highway is not a normal part of driving, whether it's from a driveway, a supermarket carpark or another road.

Loved this response 😄
Could be worse OP you could have our neighbours. They'd park on our doorstep if they could fit on it.

Agree it's against the law to be blocking/parking too close to junctions, roundabout etc, but does that stop others? No. Do I manage to carry on with limited visibility? Yeah. Are you telling me you've never had this happen to you? Or if you did, did you stop and report it? Or did you simply move on with your day?

@INeedAnotherName unnecessarily harsh! I read the Highway Code when I sat my driving test years ago, and have kept up to date on changes but no I don't have it memorised. I don't own a van or park one and I deal with the traffic on the road correctly.

Vans are parked everywhere in my busy city and I possibly naively assumed that if it wasn't allowed, there would be a penalty of some sort

It's the fact you tried to make out your neighbour was wrong by you claiming it's part of driving and refusing to accept it's dangerous.

Have you twigged on yet that most of us disagree with you?

It would piss me off if someone was parking their works van outside my house.

I think I've just about twigged on that y'all disagree with me. Does that change my opinion? No.
I still stand by that it is part of driving. There are never perfect driving conditions all the time. There is always risk, no matter what. My OH parks somewhere else if there's space even if it's further away because he is considerate and doesn't want to cause unnecessary bother.
What if my OH got ran over crossing the road because he had to park far from home? There are risks and danger everywhere