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

Slightly off the point, but it is possible to get a buggy up a normal kerb. But I know he shouldn't have been there and it's an issue for longer wheelchair users too

Next time take a photo and call the police

No one is asking you to “fix every problem” but in life but your absolutely tragic contempt for the common weal is what leads to the enshittification of everything. Its worse than “I’m all right Jack” its “fuck you I’ve got mine.”

There weren’t any consequences, he will do it again and has probably forgotten about it already.

Call him out and every other inconsiderate driver! I call people out daily as I’m blocked in or have to drive over the pavement (where kerb isn’t dropped) due to these idiots who should have their licences revoked! (I didn’t see the drive is a frequent excuse, if that’s the case you shouldn’t be driving, it’s as clear as day). Where it’s a trade blocking I call the number, where it’s a private car I leave a stinky note - so frequent I keep them in my handbag. Please folks - don’t block dropped herbs, they are there for a reason

id of had a moan but wouldn’t have phoned him

Just because I wouldn’t have done the same as op in this situation doesn’t mean I don’t care about other things. But I can’t care about everything, just like other people won’t care about things that have affected me.

I would not care enough about this particular situation to make me start an argument with a male stranger while I have 2 young children with me. End of.

I frequently call out inconsiderate parking. Not for myself, but for others it does affect. Not everyone has an “I’m alright, Jack” attitude.

Learn how to use your middle finger.

I did that as a women mounted the curb in front of me, reacted with ‘I just need to make a hone call. Pointed out parking space further up and met with abuse:

YANBU and some people are arseholes.

Could we see a photo of one of these signs? Because I don't doubt what you are saying, but I do doubt they are lawful.

I am in the UK and we have two like that - they were "upgraded" with the yellow boxes to point out to blind drivers not to park there because they enable people to cross very busy areas. They have had absolutely no impact whatsoever. Another one has double yellows. Also makes no difference.

These are common, i’m sure the poster is referring to the loading signs.

Some places have signs that say no loading at any time, and others say no parking except for loading during certain times.

Yeah I mean I never understand the mentality of people that choose to confront people and are then shocked at the reception they get. Did you really expect him to say? "oh I do apologise madame, I shall swiftly move on, you're quite right!" Especially when you have children with you, really you should tut in your head what an asshole you think he is and then move on in your life. Never confront unless absolutely necessary!

I admire you for doing that OP because pedestrians and wheelchair
users and anyone with a buggy has a right to use the roads, not just drivers, who sometimes behave as if the road is theirs alone. But it might have been better to phone his company to complain later because he was very likely to respond aggressively.

@Wishingplenty no I didn't expect him to say '"oh I do apologise madame, I shall swiftly move on, you're quite right!"

He was not in the van. I called him on his mobile, the number was on the side of the van. On the phone he said something like 'am I, I'm just doing a quick job and will move it in a few minutes' - this is what he said on the phone.

Later he drove by me in his van, somehow IDK how, knew it was me and yelled out of his window at me.

@BigDayForTheWomen I called the number on the side of the van. I would say he was a sole trader. I highly doubt I would have said anything if he was there in person, not that I am a coward, or maybe I am. Just as you said he was likely to not like what I had to say and is male.

Double buggies also would be impeded. There was a campaign near me which saw adults walking up the bonnets and over the roof of cars parked or partially parked up on public pavements. Good for them. The entitlement of some is awful but no longer astounds me.

Well done - that was a good thing to call him out on it

He shouldn't park where he wants, nor would I expect a better response from him. But personally I would be paying more attention to the children with me than making phone calls.

Right, I imagined it was one of those 'call this number if you have anything to say about my driving' messages that some large companies use, in which case someone might have taken the matter up with this guy especially if you enclosed a photo.
Good for you doing it anyway; he might at least notice the drop curb issue in future even if he won't admit he was wrong.
He probably saw you putting your phone away and crossing the road with your buggy and looking annoyed, and put two and two together. Rude man.

If that is the case then those signs do not trump "do not park across dropped kerbs" - they still require drivers to abide by the law with the sole exception that they can park to load or unload deliveries in places that they would not otherwise be able to do so. They do not give permission to park across dropped kerbs. And lets also be honest - half the time it isn't about essential deliveries anyway. The worst "offending" near me is one specific spot, on a corner (so illegal anyway), on double yellow lines (doubly illegal) and over the dropped kerb (triply illegal). Why? Because your need to pick up a bacon butty, 6 teacakes and a cream bun trump the needs of everybody else. The spot they block is literally TWO FEET from the door of that shop. Across the narrow road opposite the shop there is a CAR PARK - if you park at the furthest point away you will be no more than 100 feet away. Down the side street from that shop there are svereal areas where you could legally park - about 20 feet to walk. Outside the shop and down past the row of shops a limited stop laybay is about 200 feet long. It has nothing to do with need and everything to do with sheer laziness and twattery.

You did nothing wrong. If people are going to be thoughtless enough to park their work’s van like that with company name and number on it, then it’s on them when someone calls them out. Well done for calling him out OP and ignore the ones who want you to think they never get flustered over anything.

Yeah, i just said the signs exist. I can’t be sure but I doubt this applied to OP’s case anyway.

Compared to a van parked where it shouldn’t be, I personally would get more ‘flustered’ over:

1. My young children getting irritable while I stand on the roadside to make a call
2. A male stranger being aggressive with me while I have 2 young children with me

Things can be wrong and annoying, but pick your battles I say.