Driveway regularly used for turning - deterrent ideas?

[3girlsmama]

Looking for solutions/new ideas, please.
We live in a cul de sac near a park, and people increasingly drive in and, instead of reversing out, use our drive to turn. It irrationally irritates me & I'm convinced someone will tip our car one day. (DH is not that bothered, but I see it multiple times daily as I WFH).

It's awkward to get a gate due to the boundary layout next door & current hedge by our driveway bit.

I priced an automated bollard & it was €€€ over budget.

So, manual retractable bollard? Some another retractable thingy?! Anything new or tried and tested in a similar set-up?

There is a no throughway road sign at the entrance to the cul de sac, but just the image, not the words & I'm not convinced people know what it means... I'm thinking of buying a 'no through way' or 'dead end' sign first to see if that makes any difference.

Thanks!

Happens to me all the time. We live near the start of the road but have a wide driveway which means that when people realise they are in the wrong road they use our driveway to turn.

I once had to go out and chase someone who parked in our drive to take a call on their mobile phone. CF

I find it mildly irritating but I can't really think of anything that would make a difference.

I'm afraid I'm in the 'is this really an issue' camp.

We are in a small Close and don't have a drive at the front. We really don't care who parks (on the road) at the front

Others (neighbours) get really exercised about it ? Honestly, I'd encourage you to try deciding to not care about it for three months and see how you feel then.

Our sign maybe marks us out as mean and petty… but the turning had made our gravel drive, so bad that the postman had commented that he was worried about damaging his van crossing it, which he has to do because he can’t stop outside due to it being a single-track road. We looked into putting something more hard-wearing there but there is a tree with a TPO next to it and we’re not allowed to in case it damages the roots.

The planter on castors is an interesting idea, thanks. I had considered a planter, but it hadn't occurred to me you could get them on wheels which might make it workable.

About the sign, I'm not thinking of a sign on our driveway but a sign at the entrance to the cul de sac that includes the words 'no through road' or similar because people genuinely might not recognise the current T symbol that indicates that.

In attempted a diagram it clarified two things for me. 1) The turning area being parked in puts people off reversing - there is still space to do so, but our drive is the easier option. I can't do much about that because there are more cars than places to park so it will always be parked in. 2) The end house drive isn't used in this way because they have two cars filling the drive. So, parking at the end of ours might work (plus adding the sign as above).

Thanks for all the feedback.

I have a similar thing going on. Cul de sac, park at the back, cars using wide access drive to turn etc.

I could let it bother me, but it is not all day every day and they are in and out in a flash. I let it go and get on with my day.

OP, one suggestion (that may have been made before) is to try and use a room that does not look out on your driveway for WFH. I live in the back of the house mostly and don't see the turnings most of the time.

My parents have a similar issue and it's caused them a lot of stress over the past year after they tried to put a stop to it.

They tried the plant thing but the day after she set out a line of planters they had all disappeared.

Then a letter arrived later that day from one of her neighbours calling her all the names under the sun for daring to put plant pots on her own drive. ( this neighbour has pots on his own small drive but apparently it's different and because mums drive is huge he believes it's her neighbourly duty to allow people to use it for turning and the placing of the pots was out of order) He said she should have sent notes to all the neighbours in the cul de sac asking for permission to put the pots in places

This all seemed such a bizarre reaction by the neighbour but it then turned out that since the start of the pandemic he has transferred his business activities to his home and the people using the drive are his customers coming to collect orders. They now even park on her drive sometimes and when mum challenges them she gets told to fuck off!

Neighbour finally admitted to stealing the pots and put them outside mums door a few days later.

Things didn't end there though.

There is a "private drive/no access sign" at the start of mum's drive that has been there since the estate was built 30 years ago but had been obscured by a hedge. Dad trimmed the hedge to make the sign more prominent so the neighbour came out with a angle grinder and removed the sign!

Police called and he was warned to apologise and pay for replacing the sign or be charged with criminal damage.

It's all made my parents very stressed and hasn't even stopped the problem of the customers driving up and constantly setting of her ring camera and shining headlights into the house of an evening.

Why not just a traffic cone or two.

the other side is concrete (edge of drive)

fence supports can be bolted into concrete but that planter on castor’s is probably easier and cheaper.

www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Bolt-Down-Post-Support-for-Fence-Posts---100-x-100mm/p/218589?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpImTBhCmARIsAKr58cyoCMTsZQIEzA9-XLd1qieL1M58eUrDtVO13kewvwj3wHXm2KaOJTUaAiYeEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I don’t think a sign at the entrance to the cul de sac will make a difference.

People either drive in intentionally, or unintentionally. Once they are in, they have to get out…there is no alternative. Reversing any distance is tricky and most people want to avoid it. The only option is to put something across your drive.

And this might not work either. You can’t put something across the dropped curb as that is public footpath and not yours. People can still use that section to drive onto and it could well be wide enough to still allow them to turn.

Unfortunately, if your house is located at the sweet spot for turning, people will find ways to do it.

Most barriers will prove more annoying for yourself. When arriving you’d have to get out if car and move them…all a bit annoying. You’re unlikely to have a remote controlled device or barrier.

I agree that it’s worth making a conscious effort to really try and not think about it for a while. Don’t sit looking out at where it happens. When it does, consciously decide not to be cross or dwell on it.See if you can get beyond it.

It does remind me about checking if properties are likely to be turning spots when house viewing in future too though. Unfortunately, it sounds like you will struggle to prevent it happening.