To want the car to move!

[honeyandbutterontoast]

Looking for honest opinions here because I’m aware this may make me seem like an AH.

I live in a road where the majority of houses don’t have drives. We park on the road. I knew that when I bought the house, it’s not permit parking but there is usually space for two small cars in front of my house. It has never been a problem in the time I’ve lived here, occasionally if there’s a local event I’ve had to park up the road for a few hours if I’ve been out, or for an evening.

Four weeks ago I came home from work to find a big car taking up both spaces outside. So I parked elsewhere. The car is still there.

Nobody has been to it, or moved it in that time and frankly I’m getting annoyed. I have to now park a long way from my house (else I’m in someone else’s space), which has been annoying with heavy bags of food shopping, or if I’m going out with the dog/DC. It’s meant if my mum has visited she’s also had to park elsewhere, again not ideal.

But what can I do? No point leaving a note as nobody has been to the car in that time (it’s right outside my window so I would see). None of the neighbours know who it belongs to either. It seems a stupid thing to get stressed about but I just want to be able to park outside my house!

Gah! Sorry, BlueMoanday - I didn't spot that auto-incorrect had done its work there.

Where I live it depends on the bylaws of the city. My city allows city residents to park for up to two weeks in front a person's house (on a residential street). But you must be a resident of that city. The city next to me only allows people to park for a maximum of 3 hours in front of someone's house and this applies to everyone except the owner of the house. The owner can park for as long as they want. I received a parking violation ticket for parking in front of someone's house for 5 hours (in that city). The police will give you a ticket only if the home owner calls to complain.

@honeyandbutterontoast
I can't help but agree with you

There are some posters here who absolutely disagree with you and take geat delight in pointing out that it's a public highway and anyone can park there.

But I suspect it's because they're the people who don't really care about anyone else as long as they're ok
As long as the letter of the law is being followed, it doesn't matter about anything else.
Why should you bother thinking about your neighbours and their parking needs as long as you have the parking space you need?

We have the same situation on our street.
Neighbours used to park considerately so that everyone could find a space to park ............. until we had neighbours move in who just thought about themselves and where they and their visitors could park without inconveniencing themselves

People seem to have become so much more selfish these days and don't seem to consider anybody else's needs

Obviously, if there are local laws or restrictions, you have to obey them.

However, from all that OP has said, it sounds very clear that it is an unrestricted road with the standard first-come-first-served for anybody with a legal vehicle to use. She just wants special privileges because... well, she thinks that what is convenient for her should be foremost in all other road users' thoughts.

Why should you bother thinking about your neighbours and their parking needs as long as you have the parking space you need?

Does that also extend to you parking a few streets away, if you are fit and able-bodied - and you have neighbours who are a couple who both have disabilities and need two cars as they work in different towns, so their need for the space outside your house (as well as the one outside their own home) is clearly greater than yours?

Or do the 'considerate neighbour rules' only apply when they mean that you happen to get what you want?

No one owns a parking spot, even one outside your house. If its included on your deeds that's different but as it's street parking I doubt it. If it's that much hassle ask the council to make it permit parking and then pay for the privilege of having a 2nd permit like I have to. Stop moaning about minor issues when there are bigger problems in the world. Youre lucky to have considerate neighbours as ive never lived anywhere that people don't just park wherever they want.

This situation used to be a constant problem where I live as we are close to a station and an airport. We had commuters cars parking all day and cars being left while people went on holiday. We (a group of neighbours) asked the council to implement parking restrictions. After consultation with all the residents they were implemented, so now there are two periods of time each day when you need a permit to park. It's completely solved the problem.

There are other fora for discussion of existential crises.

The OP has been inconvenienced by an abandoned vehicle for more than a month. I don't blame her for seeking advice here.

No one is forced to read this thread.

Exactly. No one owns the street. If you want guaranteed parking then you need to buy a property that comes with parking. If you can’t afford a property that has parking, tough as it sounds, but well that’s just life.

I will move cones (and have done - just the other day in fact!) quite happily so I can legally park my car in a place with no parking restrictions. It’s illegal to leave cones out to save a parking space - it’s classed as unlawfully blocking the public highway. If someone kicked off because I moved their cones I would call 101 and report them.

We could buy two, possibly three, properties with parking if we sold our house. Living in a house that was built before cars were invented isn’t a financial decision.

When you buy a house with parking on the road, you know that you have no claim on that particular bit of public road and could be parking anywhere.

I have always lived in places where you park on the road. You park where there's a space.

Thank you. Yes I could do the same.

We have the same situation on our street.
Neighbours used to park considerately so that everyone could find a space to park ............. until we had neighbours move in who just thought about themselves and where they and their visitors could park without inconveniencing themselves

People seem to have become so much more selfish these days and don't seem to consider anybody else's needs

Same here. All the neighbours parked considerately and it worked perfectly.
New neighbours moved in and parked so selfishly. He would park his massive van in a way that took up at least two spaces just so he could see it from his window. He'd leave it there for weeks too even though it massively inconvenienced everyone including the neighbours with a new born baby.

We all knew he was parking legally but it still meant he was an absolute dick. We ended up moving and on our moving day we text all the neighbours asking if they could keep the space outside our house free for our removal van ...... the second we moved our car to free up the space he moved his van into it!
His wife was mortified when she saw us carrying things up the road to our van but he refused to move.

No they couldn’t. Are you ok??

Criminal damage… nice.

Some of these posts are hilarious. It’s not “your” space because it’s outside your house. You have zero right to any space on a public road.

I live near a town centre and next to a school. It’s all on street parking with a million terraces. It’s a free for all. Sometimes I can park near my house, other times it’s several streets away, all up hill. There’s a bloke with about 6 different cars and vans he uses for storage. They one by one run out of their MOTs, sit there rotting for months, people report them, then they rot for more months until the council scraps them, then he buys another to take its place. That’s ONE bloke taking up probably 9 spaces with his vans. That’s the joy of on street parking.

I live in a very working class town. You are probably considered well off if you have a house with a driveway here.

Parking is one thing. Using the public road for long term vehicle storage is quite another.

Absolutely agree

Absolutely.

Not according to the law

The law’s still as much of an ass as it was when Dickens denounced it.

For 7 years I lived in a tenement flat a mile east of Glasgow city centre. Each close (entrance hall) had 8 flats in it and the street outside had space for 3 or 4 cars. Our street was used for parking for the shops and offices on the main road one block over and it was also used by people going into the city centre rather than them paying to park all day. If Celtic was playing at home we couldn't move the car unless we were willing to stay away long after the match finished. Getting parked anywhere near our flat was a massive achievement. It was just part of life.
No one owns the piece of public road outside their home and I would park in the nearest space to my home making sure that I wasn't taking up any more space than necessary, i.e. not parking in the middle of a space that would fit 2 cars.
Yesterday I was at my mum's. She lives in a 1920s terrace just off a main road (so again people parking for the local shops and offices, plus for trains and buses). I have regularly ended up parking in the next street over, away from the main road but I was pleasantly surprised to get a space almost at her door, which was particularly helpful since I had bags of presents plus prepared food for the extended family get together to carry from the car.

Perfectly legal is they are taxed and MOTd sadly 😭

I can't believe that people are suggesting reporting somebody to the police for parking safely in a legal, unrestricted space.

Conversely I can. (In fact on a thread this length I would have laid money on it). It wouldn't be MN otherwise.

In fact I am mildly surprised that no one has yet concocted a theory around criminal gangs, modern slavery, Keir Starmer and VAT on private schools. Although I admit it is the slow season.

Why would Starmer be intrested in parking, isnt he is still trying to free the sausages.