People who don’t use their drives. Why? 😆

[emmerdaleorcorrie]

I’m really curious about this. I doubt it’s just my area. It doesn’t annoy me or anything like that, but after living in a terrace with on street parking for years, I love having a drive now and can’t wrap my head around people who don’t use theirs. There’s a house a few doors down with 2 cars always parked on the street, while their drive sits empty. I’ve been living here for nearly a year, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a car on their drive. I only noticed because one of their cars is always parked on a bend, forcing everyone to drive on the other side of the road to get past.

My whole estate is like this, with cars scattered everywhere, on pavements, and drives just sitting there empty. I know that some people don’t want to play car jenga, having one car in the drive and another on the street, but not using it at all seems a bit odd. Houses with parking usually cost more too. I feel more at ease knowing my car is safer and less likely to get damaged. It also frees up more space for guests.

I don’t know, I just think it’s a little odd, but what can you do. I don’t think there’s a law that saids you have to park on your drive haha. Is there anyone on here that does this? 😆

I know what you mean OP - there is someone who lives on my road who actually paid to make their drive larger and extend the dropped kerb so that they could comfortably fit two cars side by side (so no shuffle) and yet still park one in the street. It is particularly irksome as many other houses have only one parking space so they are taking up room and making parking harder for others.

Apparently some people ( not me I love my drive) hate people parking outside their house so block the road with their own car. Just found this out from a friend who watches a theatrical performance at the house over the road who leaves her drive empty and complains every time there’s a car outside her house!

That does sound annoying, especially if other people can’t find a space and their drive is empty. Perhaps the other neighbours could park on the drive instead? 😂

Fortunately, it doesn't stop access to my own drive, but I do worry about bumping into someone or them bumping into me eventually. It's crazy how people still speed around even when visibility is poor because of all the parked cars and vans everywhere (on corners and even junctions). I really wish people would take it easy and drive according to the road conditions, but then it wouldn't be as half as bad if more people used their drives!

People next door but one have a drive big enough for 3 cars.
There is now only the couple living in the house and they still park the one car on the road.

Bizarre! Could they at least not park it in front of their own dropped kerb and then they aren’t taking up space?!

Some people in my road had their drive (big enough for at least 2 cars) laid with glaring white tarmac type stuff. Now they park their cars across the pavement so I walk on the sparkling white drive.

I would absolutely love to know the rational behind this behaviour. We live on a street where only 4 houses have drives and yet only one house uses the drive. The other 3 houses all park their cars on the road (one house has 3 cars that I'm aware of). I literally have no idea why and every time I pass the empty drives it irritates me.

There's more people than you realise who don't like reversing. If they pull into a drive they have to pull out backwards, and vice versa. They probably park on the road so they don't have to.

No idea how they manage to park at a local shop mind.

My parents never use their drive but it is incredibly steep (it is the steepest in the whole road) and anyone would struggle not to scrape the car on it and to get in/out of the car.
We don't have a drive and I miss it. Would always use one (as long as it wasn't as steep as my parents) if I had one.
Next door neighbour can get two cars on her drive but usually parks one on the road and I don't understand it at all. Maybe I should ask her.

I would think they are the type of people who believe the area of road in front of a property is for the property owner's exclusive use, and will park there specifically to stop anyone else doing it.

Mix of driving laziness, inability to park in tighter spaces or sometimes if they're expecting guests they save some spaces closer to them e.g. their drive.

But I also know people who don't like people parking in front of their house.

I can't understand it. It's safer to park near as possible to your door and I thought it's better for car insurance too.

Drive’s not wide enough to get in and out of car, get bins down etc; people keep blocking them in; can’t get in and out of drive when someone’s parked opposite; don’t want white van permanently parked outside living room window.

I’m sure there’s more.

My friend used to live on a south london street where clearly there were no drives originally. Some people have paved the tiny bit of spaces to the fromt of the house to pull a small car in, but it makes the houses look awful when they do. I can imagine you wouldn't really want a car parked 6 inches outside your front room window.

How odd. Doesn’t happen here. All the houses along the road have drives & everyone uses them apart from one house that has three cars but only room for two on the drive so parks one on the road out of necessity. Perhaps because it’s a main A road & not an estate. When we had four cars, grown children as well as ours, all were parked on our admittedly large drive even if it did mean a bit of shuffling at times.

My dog likes to hang out in the front garden and there is more space with no car there so I only use it when I'm charging the car. I live at the very end of a very quiet cul de sac and am not inconveniencing anyone at all by parking outside of my house.

My drive is horribly steep but I could probably get used to that. However, what has stopped me using it over the last 14 years is that my road is very narrow and when I did park on the drive I had people parking directly opposite meaning I couldn't get off and people parking so close to my dropped kerb that, again, I couldn't get off. I set off for work before 7am, before most of the people around me, so I decided I couldn't risk being blocked in again so have never parked on the drive since. It's habit now. I always park across my dropped kerb (MN says this is illegal, even if i's mine, but I've never had an issue) so I'm not taking up any more room than I would if I parked on the drive, But I know I can leave when I need to so I'm happy.

This. We have someone on our street that does this. Every now and again they go back to parking on their drive (which actually has room for two cars) but then as soon as they realise someone else will park in 'their' space outside on the road they move their car back once the other car has gone.

I don't think the insurance details include how far from the house your car is while on the street. It's garaged, on the drive or on the street. My house doesn't face on to the road I cant even see my car when it's parked on the road.

I understand what you mean. Fortunately in our culdisac everyone uses their drives/garages most of the time. It is still sometimes a slalom and no space for an extra one to park.

We gained a second car, and moved a shed to make the drive long enough to park both. They are one in front of the other, so we do sometimes need to play car Jenga. Not always easy before people have left for work, can't leave one in front of our drive, if the other needs to be put back on the drive- much easier with two drivers than one.

We do leave one in front of our drive some of the time, but only if we are going back out a short while later. It will be put back on the drive on return.

We’re on a cul de sac of 5, all with double driveways and a single garage, and the house at the start of the road parks both cars on the road, their guests do too! So the house opposite will end up parking outside mine to save a space on their driveway for one of their parents who visit maybe once a week.

It’s baffling! Annoying cause they’re entitled to park on the road if they so wish but they could have saved money getting a house with no off road parking 🙃

Maybe they have carers visiting during the day and possibly evening so leave the drives free for them to park on.

Maybe other neighbours block their drive so they can't get on or off when they need to.

Sorry what I mean is that you will save money on insurance because the premiums are lower for drive vs street (I think) and that's also because the drive is considered safer.

But I suppose, that said, that the insurance company won't know whether someone is parked on their drive or not!

Maybe their kids ride their scooters or play basketball or roller skate on the drive

If it's a shared drive, some people are scared of a neighbour bashing them. Some people use their garage as an office/play space or whatever, and don't like people going in and out close to the cars. And one neighbour parks on the road because it's quicker (I wouldn't have thought it saved her more than 3 seconds in the morning, but that's her business.

I always used my drive until a new school was built and I kept getting blocked in with cars overhanging the drive. Now I park my two cars either side of the driveway and make sure the gap is too small to squeeze into.

if they can't be respectful, I'll take the spaces away.