Pulling out - what did I do wrong?

[WhosAfraidOfLittleOldMe]

DD is at a new holiday club and I picked her up for the first time today. It is based at a school (not her school so I’m not used to parking here) where there are the yellow zig zags right in front of the school, then a short-stay street parking section which is labelled parallel parking bays with a parking sign.

I was parked in the labelled parking section, which was around half full, and as we were walking to our car, another car pulled up and parked on the zig zags, with their indicator on left. All of this is on the left hand side of the road.

When we are ready to go, I look in my mirrors and most of my rear view is blocked by the other parked car. I sit and wait to see how much I can see of other cars coming, and once a few have gone past, it looks clear so I indicate right and start pulling out very slowly so that I can keep an eye on my mirrors for any cars coming round the other one.

As I’m halfway out, the other car very quickly changes its indicator to right and is right at my shoulder. I brake and beep my horn as it felt like they didn’t realise I was there and already pulling out. As they swerve round me, they are gesturing at me like I was in the wrong.

What did I do wrong? I honestly can’t think of what else I could have done, but I’ve got to pick up at this place for the next four weeks and I don’t want to get into any scrapes!

YABU - you did something wrong (please also tell me!)

YANBU - nothing else you could have done

Do you mean the car parked on the zig zags pulled out?

I think we need a diagram before we can judge properly. I’m not sure if I’m imagining it right otherwise.

Sounds like the arseholes around here that have such a big car they can't see half of what's going on around them.

If they're parking on yellow zigzags then they are automatically a wanker so ignore them. The gesturing is how dare you be in my way, don't you know how IMPORTANT I am!

With all MN and parking issues….. I can’t comment without a diagram

I can’t imagine how they could go from fully parked to driving at your shoulder all in the time you were already half pulled out!

You didn't do anything unreasonable. They were unreasonable from the start - they shouldn't have stopped on the zigzags and they should have been able to see you and see that you had already started your manoeuvre before they indicated and moved. They should have waited for you finish pulling out rather than try to get past.

I'd not give it another thought and mark them up as entitled tossers.

They're automatically pricks for parking on the zigzags.

Sounds like you both pulled out at the same time, but he went quicker - probably inappropriately quickly because prick. Just one of those things.

You are over thinking this OP!

The other car was an arsehole. Move on with your life.

Every single time some twat pulls out in front of me and I honk I get the finger like I was the one that fucked up.

I laugh at them now, the world is full of angry morons.

From your description, I don't think you did anything wrong.

They sound like they were quicker to pull out - probably as they had no-one blocking their rear view - and maybe didn't realise you were manoeuvring slowly because your view was blocked.

Either way, don't worry about it. If you can, park further along, away from the zigzags, if you think they might make a habit of parking there.

The type of people who think it's ok to park on zig zags are going to be the type of people that will.honk and gesture. Don't give it a second thought.

How did the car block so much of your view? The only reason for the zig zags is the school, if there was no school then the whole road would be parking bye. You can have whole roads with parking bays all down the sides. Cars don’t block your view unless your mirrors aren’t properly adjusted to view the road behind you. Or if you’ve parked contraflow to the traffic, so your driver’s side is beside the pavement and it makes it hard to see what’s coming along the road.

They’re an arsehole for parking on the zig zags. They are in the wrong. Try also pulled out without checking their surroundings so they are definitely the arse. But your view wouldn’t have been blocked. Cars can all park in a line along a road for hundreds of meters, and they won’t block your view if your mirrors are adjusted to see the road behind and you’ve parked facing with the flow of traffic so you can see past cars parked in front of you to check for traffic approaching on the wrong side of the road.

You didn't do anything wrong. You encountered a prick that's all

I thought this post was going to be about getting someone accidentally pregnant by the headline lols!

You don’t need to worry about angry ‘feedback’ / road rage from someone who parked on zig zags.

Thank you all for your replies! For those who asked, I have done a quick sketch.

It reassures me that the general consensus is that there was nothing else that could be done. (Yes they were in a much bigger fancier car than me)

I will probably try and park a bit further down as someone suggested, hopefully the pick ups will be smoother from now on!

You're halfway out and they're at your shoulder, but you still had enough time and view to note they were indicating right. I can't work that out at all.

Still, no one was injured. Onwards & upwards.

Oh god I didn't even think of that but it does doesn’t it 🙈 maybe that would be more straightforward 😂

Sketch: