To put spikes in my front driveway flower bed.

[PurpleBugz]

I live on a road where very few houses have driveways. This means there are cars parked both sides of the road. Cars regularly pull into my driveway to allow other to pass/turn around.

I used to have a gravel driveway and the constant cars turning made a massive dip. It was filled in periodically but a reoccurring problem. I saved up and block paved my driveway. it’s got sort of decorative raised brick along one side and I’ve planted nice flowers down the other side. Before it was set people turning on it messed up the brickwork on one side and they have just repeatedly driven over the flowerbed and ruined it.

Every morning I watch one particular taxi turn on my drive and most days he hits the bricks amd they are getting loose. I’ve gone and stood there when I know he’s due and point to what he's doing to make it very clear I’m not happy. This took courage for me as it’s a neighbour from down the street and I don’t cope well with confrontation. He has continued to to it. I’m having the day from hell for other reasons and I just watched another neighbour churn up the flowers with his massive van- he lives in the house opposite and does it every day too. I stood angry at the window with my arms up in a gesture of “what the?! I can see you” he looked directly at me and just carried on and unashamedly parked on his own drive opposite. I’m scared to speak to that family as they are loud and agressive regularly vandalise cars that park near their driveway and I think they were raided by police for drugs a few months ago or it may have been next door to them.

Probably bimonthly on bin day my bin gets knocked over by cars reversing onto my drive and knocking it over. Not so bad when it’s empty but if it’s before the bin lorry has been I’ve had to deal with rubbish bags soaked from rain missed by binmen/ripped open by cats.

Would I be unreasonable to put spikes in my flower bed and on the bricks at the other side? If I do this I will probably damage at least a couple car tyres a day as it happens so much each day. As the main culprits are the taxis work vans and Amazon/delivery drivers it will impact their income.

I was going to suggest this - Islington council has used them to block loads of roads to make "pedestrian friendly" streets.

I’m a bit confused or maybe my reading glasses need changing to understand the diagram better, but in all my years of driving (30), I’ve never once encountered a road where I have to pull into someone’s actual drive in order to let cars pass. Yet OP has this numerous times a day?

Sounds like someone needs to do something about the dangerous parking set up first and foremost.

Poor you op, I’d find this really stressful, maybe not spikes but yeah you need to put something there. Cheeky fuckers.

Ours is a wall. We live on a single track road so vans pulling in would often knock over the wall. We had little concrete bollards but that didn't do the trick.

However this has been a game changer. Buy a large plastic dustbin (not full size but 60-70 cm), grease it and fill it with concrete. Tip it over and you have a cheap bollard. When they hit it, it doesn't move and any damage is to their vehicle not yours.

Prepare yourself for all sorts though. One driver beached his nice BMW over the top of it (he'd knocked it over eventually) and told me it wasn't fair, whereas having to pay to build my wall constantly is?

@WearyAuldWumman I can’t believe how bloody rude people are doing that.

We had this, some fuck off big rocks sorted it right out.

Other option would be some concrete balls, they're fairly inexpensive but difficult for cars to argue with.

I’d choose gates. Or move. It sounds stressful.

A collapsible bollard could do it. I feel for you 😟

Moat and portcullis. Couple of trebuchet for retaliation.

I feel you pain @PurpleBugz - we have the same issue but with our house. I had to put a series of flower pots out of the front of our house as a delivery driver crashed into the kitchen and damaged the roof/guttering. Turns out the flower pots weren't quite in the right place and another van managed to hit the corner of the house and rip part of the roof off 😡No-one owned up to the latter and the first one I saw him do it and he still denied it with a big dent in the back of his van 🙄

It's entirely plausible the same as if I trip within your property boundary delivering leaflets hopefully your house insurance has public liability. We are no longer in a society where these things aren't available for the less scrupulous to use to their advantage. I offered a piece of advice I was aware of from the police about them not being legal even within property boundaries due to visibility.

Move house.

Put a gate up? A bit of a PITA to have to get out and open the gate every time you want access your driveway but it saves anyone destroying your property?

Almost certainly illegal and if anyone is injured, or has their car damaged, I think you would be liable. Is it possible to put gates up?

Does your upstairs neighbour use the drive and pay for the paving etc? A chain is your answer, or better, gates, which do not need to be locked but are a barrier to just turning in - pain to open. I hope you stop the entitled bastards - what a cheek!

Next time you talk to nice/scary nextdoor neighbour I'd drop into the conversation how your drive is damaged and you don't know how you're going to afford to get it fixed. Lay it on thick enough and you may find he "has a word". Do the big rocks as well though!

Really, don't do that. They could hurt a dog, cat or child. Why not put a couple of heavy planters at the front? They will look nice and keep vehicles from driving in

A collapsable bollard

I’ve done pots on mine to stop people. I’ve had to replace them multiple times as people still drive into them.
things I’ve learnt, make them tall for sensors to pick up and I now have pots made out of recycled tyres so there’s a little bit of flex.
one thing I’ve seen that might be cost affective is sandcastles or buckets used with concrete to make boulders. They don’t look terrible and seem to do the job.

I don’t understand peoples lack of respect for others property.

Could you erect gates and keep them closed/locked?

gates? Big chunky ones?

Do the one with marbles on! It's completely deranged, in the best way. A giant ball of eyes! It looks like a biblically accurate angel.

Film it, take the licences and report a hit and run it’s technically an accident if they hit anything. And destruction of property.

Set up a camera & report to the police.

Collapsible bollard in the middle of the drive! Failing that some large flower pots on top of those special stands with wheels that you can easily move when you need to. Good luck!!