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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To get really annoyed when someone parks next to me in a quiet car park!

95 replies

cheesycheesy · 26/08/2025 13:26

It really bugs me when people do this. Today I’m taking my ds swimming. Quiet car park so I park with plenty of space between bays so it’s easy to get out. Someone decides to park next to me once we’ve stopped so it’s a pita to get out! Why make it harder when there’s plenty of free spaces!

OP posts:
bumbaloo · 27/08/2025 07:15

sarah419 · 27/08/2025 06:04

if you don’t want people parking near you, park in spaces furthers to the entrance of place intended. otherwise you can’t expect people to pick the furthest parking while you park close.

If you read even a few comments on this thread you’d know people do park far away with no cars around them . Only to return to a car right up against theirs.

bumbaloo · 27/08/2025 07:16

50Balesofgrey · 26/08/2025 14:29

I don't see why it's so difficult to get out of a painted box.

Do don’t understand how doors work?

itsgettingweird · 27/08/2025 07:20

😂😂😂

I think it annoys most people.

Humans by nature are territorial. It’s quite natural to think a space is yours and no one will want to park there because they’ll feel the same as you re leaving spaces.

Unfortunately we are also a unique diverse bunch and it doesn’t work out that way.

The trick is an end space where someone can only mark one side of you!!!!

taxguru · 27/08/2025 07:21

sarah419 · 27/08/2025 06:04

if you don’t want people parking near you, park in spaces furthers to the entrance of place intended. otherwise you can’t expect people to pick the furthest parking while you park close.

I do and the sods still ignore all the empty spaces they pass and park next to mine.

GleisZwei · 27/08/2025 07:23

bridgetreilly · 26/08/2025 13:47

Second day of car ownership, first motorway drive, I stopped at services and parked miles from anyone deliberately. Came back to find someone parked right next to me. Bad decision on their part. I made a complete mess of reversing out and had to leave an apologetic note on their windscreen.

Now that I am better at driving and parking, I never park near a lone car, just in case it’s me from thirty years ago.

How did you pass your driving test? 🫣

taxguru · 27/08/2025 07:23

itsgettingweird · 27/08/2025 07:20

😂😂😂

I think it annoys most people.

Humans by nature are territorial. It’s quite natural to think a space is yours and no one will want to park there because they’ll feel the same as you re leaving spaces.

Unfortunately we are also a unique diverse bunch and it doesn’t work out that way.

The trick is an end space where someone can only mark one side of you!!!!

Yup, I try to find and end or corner space against a kerb or verge, but unfortunately it seems common these days for car parks to have shrubs in corners so such spaces are often overgrown so you end up fighting past braches etc.

FenderStrat · 27/08/2025 07:24

If people have this much trouble in car parks, get the bus.

IDreamOfElectricSheep · 27/08/2025 07:25

That is so annoying. I once parked up in a furniture shop car park on a Sunday morning. No other cars at all. I still parked a bit further away, went in and had a browse.
Came out to see two more cars parked up. One on either side of my car. In an otherwise completely empty car park. so annoying.

CheeseCakeSunflowers · 27/08/2025 07:27

Its so their car has another car to talk to while you're gone. They see your car looking lonely and feel sorry for it. I always feel sorry for cars that are parked facing a wall with nothing interesting to look at.

GleisZwei · 27/08/2025 07:27

MermaidMummy06 · 26/08/2025 22:15

I have a small SUV style car. Every time I come out, regardless of where I park or how empty the car park is, I have a monster truck either side of me. At least one will have a protruding tow ball. It's almost impossible to get out as I have to reverse straight back until I'm out, and then there's not enough room to turn.

That's why you're generally supposed to reverse in.

GleisZwei · 27/08/2025 07:29

cheesycheesy · 27/08/2025 07:09

It’s just being an inconsiderate twat when you block someone in from opening their doors when there’s plenty of other convenient spaces to get into that aren’t blocking anyone else in.

Being in the next bay isn't blocking anyone in though.

GleisZwei · 27/08/2025 07:29

bumbaloo · 27/08/2025 07:13

Weird comment. It’s not relating to the post at all. Regardless of vehicle size it is weird to park against another car if you don’t have to

Being in the next bay isn't 'parking against' another car.

GleisZwei · 27/08/2025 07:30

bumbaloo · 27/08/2025 07:15

If you read even a few comments on this thread you’d know people do park far away with no cars around them . Only to return to a car right up against theirs.

Being in the next bay isn't 'right up against'.

1apenny2apenny · 27/08/2025 07:30

I’m glad it isn’t just me, this really annoys me! So much so that I often think I’ll print little notes and leave them on windscreens asking why they do it!

GleisZwei · 27/08/2025 07:31

1apenny2apenny · 27/08/2025 07:30

I’m glad it isn’t just me, this really annoys me! So much so that I often think I’ll print little notes and leave them on windscreens asking why they do it!

Asking why people park in an empty space in a car park? Um, ok.

NamelessNancy · 27/08/2025 07:39

Weird isn't it? I see the same phenomenon when changing for a swim. I usually go at a quiet time but if someone else comes in whilst I'm changing the chances are they'll use the cubicle next to me rather than any of the other 40ish empty ones. Obviously they're free to use whichever but why? Similarly we can put our stuff out on an empty beach and yep, same thing, only other people that show up apparently yearn to be close to us!

Ballardz · 27/08/2025 07:40

sarah419 · 27/08/2025 06:04

if you don’t want people parking near you, park in spaces furthers to the entrance of place intended. otherwise you can’t expect people to pick the furthest parking while you park close.

Have you actually read the thread or even just the OP?

That’s the very issue - people park cars far away from the entrance in a quiet part to have space, yet someone comes and parks right next to them, and not in any of the surrounding dozens of empty bays.

JacquesHarlow · 27/08/2025 07:52

There is a very simple explanation to all of this.

So many drivers in the UK are terrible at using their mirrors and bizarrely refuse to use the most powerful tool in a driver's armoury for reasons unknown to me.

There are three scenarios I see where this is an issue , it is rife on the school run:

  • Parking in a bay People who don't want to use their mirrors to line up with the parking lines, will just aim nose first at the nearest car, and then straighten up to leave a "distance" between them and the next car. Chances are you're therefore within a bay, so you don't have to use the dreaded mirrors right?!
  • Parallel parking I have seen people drive nose into spaces which don't really allow for it, and then do this weird shuffle back and forwards without altering the line of their car, meaning they are parked 40cm from the kerb. The reality is , no mirror usage so no awareness of where the kerb is.
  • Reversing on a road If a driver has all the parked cars on their left side, they see a car coming but decide to carry on, and that car doesn't give way (because, Highway Code says it's their priority and road is clear their side)... oh the panic! Reversing means looking at mirrors, and the mirror avoider is now in the worst case scenario. I have seen five minute standoffs, huffing, getting out of the car and gesticulating... all in the name of avoiding a glance or two at a mirror or lining up the car.

So yeah, I think the root cause of this lemming like activity is lazy, entitled, feckless Brits who just use objects around them as positional markers instead of actually using the car the way it was designed - with MIRRORS!

Owly11 · 27/08/2025 07:52

It’s easier to park next to a car because you can see it, unlike the lines. If you want to park somewhere leaving enough space for yourself you have to find a space next to an already parked car that you can make enough space that can’t be filled eg next to a very small car or a car parked near to the lines on the other side or on the end of a row and so on. That way you are more in control of the space than if you try to leave an empty space next to you. I say this from years of experience of lugging a cello around and needing enough space to get it out of the back seat.

cheesycheesy · 27/08/2025 07:57

Owly11 · 27/08/2025 07:52

It’s easier to park next to a car because you can see it, unlike the lines. If you want to park somewhere leaving enough space for yourself you have to find a space next to an already parked car that you can make enough space that can’t be filled eg next to a very small car or a car parked near to the lines on the other side or on the end of a row and so on. That way you are more in control of the space than if you try to leave an empty space next to you. I say this from years of experience of lugging a cello around and needing enough space to get it out of the back seat.

I get that some likes are faint but I’ve never had trouble seeing a bay line. I’m not sure anyone should be driving with that kind of eyesight

OP posts:
GleisZwei · 27/08/2025 07:59

cheesycheesy · 27/08/2025 07:57

I get that some likes are faint but I’ve never had trouble seeing a bay line. I’m not sure anyone should be driving with that kind of eyesight

I'm not sure anyone should be driving if they cannot cope with someone parking next to them (disabled drivers excepted, of course).

cheesycheesy · 27/08/2025 08:01

GleisZwei · 27/08/2025 07:59

I'm not sure anyone should be driving if they cannot cope with someone parking next to them (disabled drivers excepted, of course).

I didn’t say I couldn’t cope. I said it’s annoying. Like many other posters on here.

OP posts:
ErrolTheDragon · 27/08/2025 08:10

Yes, it’s poor parking skills. If the people who choose the same quiet distant corner of the car park were good at parking and just liked the area, they’d be able to do so without ending up too close to another car’s doors.

Parking was never taught - back in the day the manoeuvring was just 3 point turn and reversing round a corner. When our dd was learning, DH took her to an empty car park to practice, found her YouTubes on techniques inc wing mirrors …his own parking improved!

JacquesHarlow · 27/08/2025 08:12

Owly11 · 27/08/2025 07:52

It’s easier to park next to a car because you can see it, unlike the lines. If you want to park somewhere leaving enough space for yourself you have to find a space next to an already parked car that you can make enough space that can’t be filled eg next to a very small car or a car parked near to the lines on the other side or on the end of a row and so on. That way you are more in control of the space than if you try to leave an empty space next to you. I say this from years of experience of lugging a cello around and needing enough space to get it out of the back seat.

"you can see it, unlike the lines"

I rest my case entirely.

This is what I was talking about a few posts upthread. People just refuse to use their mirrors or reverse park, so the lines almost become irrelevant. So instead you get this absurd relativism "they're parked in a small car, so I'll nudge myself to a point where I can open my door irrespective of the painted lines".

It's why I see so many nose-first cars parked on or overlapping a painted line in car parks, but hey! they can open their driver's door at a good distance relative to the next car, so what else matters?

PigletSanders · 27/08/2025 08:42

Amonthinthecountry · 26/08/2025 13:52

Do you have a very large car? Don’t know about anyone else but my sympathy levels are directly correlated with the size of your vehicle.

What a ludicrous mindset. You have no idea why people have cars they size they do. I have a MASSIVE one. Huge. Powerful too. I use it for towing and off-roading, but I also keep it clean and do the shop in it. 😆