Trades man yelled at me from his van after I called him about his parking!

[pontipinemum]

On Saturday I was in my very small town with my baby and toddler. Baby was in the pram, I was holding the toddlers hand.

There is a pedestrian crossing, not a zebra crossing, at one point in the town. There is a dropped kerb, a yellow box, and blister paving on the path beside it. There are a few of these in town and it is a constant problem with people blocking them.

A van was blocking it this time, since his number was on the side I decided to call him, I said 'Hi, you are parked in a yellow box blocking the pedestrian crossing, where the kerb is dropped to let people cross easily' He said he was doing a quick job.

I then crossed the road by lifting the toddler, and lowering the pram backwards onto the road. It is a little steep. I was able to then use the dropped kerb on the other side.

The man returned to his van and happened to drive by me. He yelled out the window at me that 'it is not a pedestrian crossing you idiot' something else I didn't catch. And smirked/ laughed. I just said it is. I felt a bit intimidated.

It is inconvenient and dangerous for me with a pram. But blocking those crossing means that people who use wheelchair cannot cross at all. And we have 3 (that I know of) people who use electrical wheelchairs in town.

YABU - not your business where he parks stay out of it
YANBU - it was OK to call him on it

I am constantly trapped from being able to go places in my mobility scooter because of idiots like this. I generally ask them to politely to move - the first time I ask. But people would be shocked at how often people refuse to move and become literally abusive when asked.

@PollyBell Yes i also would have got on with my day or accepted if I said something to somone they would say something back and not play the 'i am a poor little intimated woman' card
It's lovely that you are ABLE to get on with your day. Some of us literally cannot when the feeble minded think that their desire not to bother walking trumps those of us who would love to be able to walk. And if you think that objecting to being abused is playing the "poor little intimidated woman" card then be very cautious because Karma can be a bitch. Try being a 67 year old disabled woman being threatened with violence by some person (and it is often women, not just men) who thinks that the law doesn't apply to them. I have had that three times this year (and I haven't included the dozens of times that I have been told I have to wait as they won't move, they will "just be a minute" or any of the other excuses for refusing to let me pass).

Where I live there are lots of dropped kerbs and crossing - all have signs saying that parking is allowed during trading hours for deliveries and trade.

Maybe you were in the wrong here?

Not necessarily! There are loads in my town with signs that say parking is allowed during trading hours for deliveries!

@BerryTwister let me know how you get on with saving the world.

Thanks for speaking up. I use a mobility scooter and he would have prevented me crossing

Reading through some of these replies it strikes me just how absolutely bizarre some people’s approach to life is.

Why would anyone take some random blokes side when he decided to park his van over a dropped kerb with tactile pavement!!?

I get that the OP went out of their way to then tell them directly about it (and some people wouldn’t be bothered to do this) but that’s not really the point.

It’s so strange that anyone would think they were to blame for defending the rights of the minority in society that need these crossings for mobility…that’s exactly why they are put in!

Also, the guy in question is clearly a d*ck for not just taking it on the chin, accepting that he was in the wrong, apologising, moving his van and not parking there again.

Everyone makes mistakes, including not really seeing the importance of things until someone points it out to you, but sometimes you have to just grow up and accept it, especially when someone has you bang to rights. Good on you OP, I would have given him a secret 2 finger salute when the kids weren’t looking 😂

This. I used to work in a Co Op and people would park blocking the entrance for deliveries. The deliveries were never at a set time. When challenged by staff the response was always ‘I’m just going to be quick’.

I regularly see taxi drivers parked directly on the lowered part of pavements for blind people to cross.

Id love to have the confidence to ‘accidentally’ scratch these cars when being forced to squeeze past as a pedestrian.

On pedestrian crossings?

So you wouldn't care to take 2 minutes to fix a problem that could cause danger to people with mobility problems or prams? Says a lot about you hun doesn't it!

Rubbish.

I would be the same as the poster, in the situation where I also have 2 young kids. I am not going to stand there with 2 kids and make a call to a stranger about his parking. It would be little trouble to just get on and cross the road. I have to cross the road with my 2 kids out of nursery with no crossing dropped kerb the other side. It’s not a problem, so perfectly reasonable that we don’t all make everything a problem all the time. Pick your battles.

Oh so because you're alright, fuck the other people who aren't? It's not a problem to you because you've only got 2 kids to deal with. What if you used a wheelchair, or had a child with a motorised wheelchair? God forbid you never have to experience a problem like that, because no one would help you. The "I'm all right Jack" approach is alive and well

Well I'd thank you for bothering.

I wouldn't be able to cross without a dropped kerb, my chair won't go down a kerb without some serious jolting (or if its too high, at all) and that causes me significant pain and isn't safe.

People parking over dropped kerbs (and one marked with tactile paving is aboslutely NOT to be blocked by parking over it, that is for access for people with disabilities as well as anyone else who needs it!) are a pain in the backside and thoughtless fuckers.

It's lovely if you can just tootle on about your day without 'making something a problem' but I don't believe that my inability to use a dropped kerb because some twat has parked on it is me making something a problem at all. It's them making the problem!

Why would anyone take some random blokes side when he decided to park his van over a dropped kerb with tactile pavement!!?

I think the answer to that is 'Because they don't give a shit about anybody else when they're in their car either'.

Well done OP, the bloke was being a dick so he can expect to be called a dick.

@Meandmyguy I’m not sure what you mean, and I suspect you’re having a bad day and just being a bit tetchy. But anyway, we are fortunate to have highway rules that are made to try and keep us safe. These include things like zebra crossings, traffic lights, give way signs, one-way signs etc. This means that in general if a traffic light is red, a driver will stop. People give way at junctions. People don’t drive the wrong way down one-way streets. I think you get the picture.

When people choose to break these rules, accidents can happen. Parking by a crossing, thereby limiting the view for pedestrians and other motorists, increases the risk of an accident. An accident is an undesirable event, I’m sure you agree. So if we see someone behaving in a way that increases the risk of someone being injured, it is a good idea it point it out. That person may learn something, and behave more sensibly in future.

That’s right, because

a) I can’t fix every problem I see in life.
b) My personal choice is not to start an argument with a stranger on the roadside while I have my 2 young children with me.
c) If someone is parked illegally, that’s not my job to deal with.

OP is commendable in what she is but it is also perfectly acceptable and really ok that others may not choose to do the same.

Well done for calling him. Next time tell him you've just seen a traffic warden approaching his van. (Alternatively, find your local number for traffic enforcement and call them, not the van owner.) He's a pillock.

He obvsly doesn't care.

In future just take a photo and review them anon on Google. If they work for themselves (or even better, a company) just out them for being inconsiderate arseholes and move on in life.

Are you in the UK? It sounds as though you are not as we do not have any crossings that match the description you gave.

I agree. The ones who don’t see a problem with this man’s actions must be the type of drivers who would do the same thing as him.

There are a load of them at my children’s school. It made me really happy one day when a traffic warden was hanging around at pick up time. Just randomly. They aren’t usually there so it was a surprise. There must have been so many pissed off parents that afternoon because they had to go and park legally for once. Diddums.

You called him? I might have grumped about or said something if was there at the time, but to ring?! How did he know it was you?

That's awful. I also had an appointment to go to. It's amazing how many van drivers just stop in the middle of our road instead of pulling to one side. I can kind of get it when they are just running in with a parcel and there isn't room, but this guy was just properly parked in the middle of the road picking a mate up (I did wait for someone to run out, thinking he wouldn't be long, but he seemed to be planning to be there a while) and there was space on the left! And just imagine the abuse they would give out if a woman blocked their path even momentarily. I've been shouted at before for properly indicating and pulling in to the side of the road to drop my elderly mother off - perfectly legitimately and with plenty of notice. The stupid thing is I have front and rear dashcams, lots of people do, and can send recorded footage to the police, and lots of people have phones to record things on.

There def aren't any signs that say parking during trading hours.

This is the first time I have ever done something like this. But as I said there are a few dropped kerbs around the town for people to cross and this happens a lot. I just decided this time I would do something. Every other time I do mutter and give out and just go around.

No I didn't expect him to be happy about it. But I didn't expect him to yell at me in the street. On the phone he said he would come and move it. He actually sounded ok on the phone.

I don't know how he knew it was me. Maybe he could see me from where he was. I did say it is to let people with wheel chairs and prams cross the road easily. So when he saw a woman with a pram he guessed it was me. It's a very small town.

I am guilty of not understanding how important these things are until they are pointed out to me/ I need to use them. When I first got my licence close to 20 years ago I remember parking on a kerb to run into a shop. A man stopped me and said I was blocking the path. I said the usually 'oh but I will only be a minute' he said something along the lines of 'if a wheelchair user comes along they won't be able to pass, why should they wait for you just to be a minute'

I was so embarrassed because it had honestly never occurred to me as a fit healthy 18 yr old, I saw 'my' world. And in my world where I had parked would not have caused any issues to me. From then on I tried to think about other peoples reality.

@FullOfMomsense lol

@BerryTwister no, not having a bad day. You mentioned something about rules and if we all ignored them. It's not my responsibility to police this. It's one of those things you come up against and just sort it and crack on.

OP sorted it her way and I would have sorted it my way.

I'd call the company. I have experienced really intimidating behaviour from drivers. I am not a delicate flower, but both times I felt shaky after the incident. My guess is the two men would not have behaved like that towards a man.