Neighbour damaged his car on my drive

[lghtnght]

I moved into my new house 3 months ago and after a few weeks, I noticed that the neighbours across the street were reversing onto my property when they left their house. The road is pretty narrow, so they can't really turn around without reversing onto my drive. Plus, another neighbour parks his car (in blue) on the pavement by their house, which makes it harder for them to pull forward and turn around.

It would be much easier if they just reversed onto their own drive and drove out from there. I don't know why they haven't done that yet. I didn't want to start any drama or fall out with them. I had never talked to them before today and wasn't sure how they'd react if I brought it up, so last weekend I decided to put some garden rocks in the corner instead. Just to clarify, they're on my drive, not on the pavement, in case anyone wonders. So, the neighbour knocked on my door earlier and said that his car got damaged because of the rocks. He insists that they were half on the pavement (not true) and half on my drive.

He asked why I didn't tell him I was putting them there so he could avoid driving over them. He said if there was a problem, I should have just talked to him. I told him it's my drive, on my property. Why would I need to inform him? His car wouldn't have been damaged if he wasn't using my drive… He got really aggressive with me, saying that the previous owners never had any issues and that he's going to call the police and a solicitor about the damage to his car. I haven’t heard anything since. I can't believe I'm even writing this. I’m not sure what to do now! I do feel a bit intimidated by him. Am I being unreasonable?

Not really. I’ve already mentioned it to my mum, brother, and friend 🤷🏼‍♀️

I’m not someone who tries to please everyone anyway!

op it’s ur drive and you can leave whatever objects you want there, if he’s blind as to what he’s reversing into, then that’s his issue.

I think you win Britain’s Got Parking Thread of the Year!

Personally, I love a bit of stealth female subversion for the pricks out there.

You would seriously think less of, say, your mum or sister if they told you they were fed up with their neighbour using their driveway without permission so they put some decorative stones down as a deterrent?

Don't believe for a second you'd think badly of them.

The very important distinction there is 'she’d given me permission'.

I'd hazard a guess you didn't also blame your neighbour for the damage you'd caused to your own car by driving badly and threaten her with solicitors and police.

It's very different.

Haven't read the thread but you are in the right. Get a gate installed. That'll show him.

Nothing to see here.
Move along... move along...

I’m confused - you put up with other people inconveniencing you, and then you knocked down your neighbours wall but she didn’t mind? Do you mean you had put up with a lot of inconvenience from her? And Jesus why can’t people learn to reverse without hitting things?

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Well played, well played.

Ideally, your neighbour should have asked if you were okay with him reversing onto your drive. Failing that, if you were unhappy with him doing this, you should have spoken to him about it. Surreptitiously placing rocks in a location where you know he is going to drive his car and risk damaging it was petty and mean and has resulted in a falling out between you and your new neighbour.
Looks like you scored an own goal here!

Tell him to piss off. It’s your drive and not his, and he only damaged his car because he was trespassing. If you want to stop him or anyone else doing it, hang a chain across the entrance with a sign saying ‘No turning’ hanging from it.

She already said I'd he reversed on to the drive it would be easier for him to drive out without ever having to go on to her drive. He made a bad choice. His problem. Clearly you're upset by her putting rocks out. Could you make up for it by offering one of your neighbours daily use of your drive or garden? It may help you feel better

🤣🤣🤣🤣

As he reversed onto his own driveway tonight I would say that:
A) he's found a new skill.
B) he won't drive into the neighbour's driveway again.

I don’t really get people who have an issue with others coming onto their drive (wear and tear? Come on, be serious).

But that’s not really relevant, obviously you are allowed to put things on your own drive without checking with the neighbours. He’s an idiot for assuming that everything he drives on remains exactly the same day to day - there’s always a chance of new hazards on the road ffs. The PP who fussed about poor visibility - if it’s so bad you can’t see rocks right in front of the car, it’s not safe to be driving at all.
And if anyone ever posts on here about someone using their drive, the advice is always “buy some rocks/planters to stop them”.

you forgot offering him the sexual position of his choice.

A gate? A GATE?

That would mean twat neighbour would have to reverse into his drive?

Oooo no, we cant make him do that he should keep using OPs property while treating her like shite on his shoe.

Some posters have mentioned that their driveways, or those of people they know, got damaged because neighbours or random drivers kept driving over them. So, I guess it does happen. Maybe not all the time, but it does, and unsurprisingly, those people didn’t offer to cover the costs for the damage 🤦‍♀️

He’s an entitled twat who’s got his comeuppance.

Can I have more info on the vision for the rocks though OP?? I’ve seen the photos but I don’t really get it, it just looks like rubble!

Ok ok… he can have the drive… he can have the house… anything, but this 😳🤣

Elevate the rocks obviously 😂😂

where's the laugh emoji?

That quote from the law says ‘hidden hazards’ - from what I understand they were not hidden - they just had not been there before. I think it would also be pretty easy to argue that rocks were decorations rather than hazards - those are hardly huge boulders like the ones farmers often put in their entrances (apparently with complete impunity).

YANBU

It's so weird that people defending the OP's behaviour are mainly responding to comments that haven't been made.

Most people have agreed the man was in the wrong to use OP's drive without permission. Most people have agreed that she has the right to refuse that permission. Most people have agreed that she's entitled to put whatever she wants on her own drive. The point of difference is that people are saying she should have had a conversation with him before doing something that she could have predicted and likely did guess might damage his car. Because it's weird to not have a conversation first, or even put a note through his door if you really haven't got the courage to speak to him.

So all of you who are going on with sarcastic comments about how people are saying the OP should have made him a present of her drive and allowed him to sleep in her bed etc - what exactly are you responding to? Other than your own sense of self-righteousness?