Nuisance neighbours...

[Bobsyeruncle]

Many years ago i was visiting a mate, without knowing I parked in somebody's space and on this blokes return he simply drove into my motorbike knocking it over causing very minor damage (I was actually next to my bike when it happened) no other witnesses though and he simply got out of his car and walked to his house without explanation. Later that night I went back and filled the tail pipe of his exhaust with expanding foam. Of course he blamed me but there were no witnesses.

If he'd done that to my bike, I'd have knocked him over.

 

[plloydie]

If I remember correctly the damage was an indicator and brake lever. (Old trail bike) I know he did manage to keep "his" spot for a few days as he couldn't get his car to run.

 

[camerassassin]

Like my next door neighbours.

At the bottom of our gardens is a joint entry and 2 garages - one mine , one theirs. I also have a garage at the house [ which I use ]

At the front of the house at present are 4 cars belonging to next door, extending from the far side of theirs to 3/4 along mine - and I'm the corner house !

Can't see why they won't use their garage . It just irritates me

 

[dinners]

I really can't get the mentality of people who claim "their" bit of the public highway outside their house.

In my example the guy parked across our drive.

 

[viv1969]

In my example the guy parked across our drive.

If it's a dropped kerb, contact your council.
Many local authorities issue Penalty Charge Notices for this.

 

[Cobra]

My opposite neighbour has the habit of leaving a Ka parked opposite my drive,
its a normal narrowish estate road, its no real issue, but it does make getting off the drive a tad tight.
It doesn't move for weeks on end, and is invariably parked facing the traffic,
I've been waiting for one of those rare monsters called a bus, I believe, to hit it.

I was just thinking that if I accidentally hit it, or ran over it in the 4x4 if they would have a
claim as its illegally parked (facing on coming traffic).
Meh who cares

 

[Seahorse]

It took 2 1/2 years to get the neighbours from hell evicted, having involved the police, council, RSPCA and finally the MP, who got it from stalled to Court in about 6 weeks flat. Left a bad taste though. We now live in a way bigger house, detached, in a much better area with double drive.

The only cause for complaint in the new place is the idiots on the 2 daily school run to jam up the road twice a day. It works out about once every 18 months I leave a not on a car thanking them for blocking the drive. None of the appear to be able to drive and definitely none of them can park.

 

[viv1969]

@Cobra Parking facing oncoming traffic is only an offence at night (unless things have changed ) So arrange to "tap" it after dark

 

[viv1969]

I leave a not on a car thanking them for blocking the drive.

I take great pleasure in leaving nice colourful, very sticky, notes on car windscreens parking in our car park at work when they're going to other premises.

 

[ChasG]

I take great pleasure in leaving nice colourful, very sticky, notes on car windscreens parking in our car park at work when they're going to other premises.

This happened to me once when I parked, where directed, in a council car park when visiting the Chief exec.

Was great fun watching the jobsworth removing it - every scrap

 

[viv1969]

This happened to me once when I parked, where directed, in a council car park when visiting the Chief exec.

Was great fun watching the jobsworth removing it - every scrap

That's great....good on ya.
We've never had a complaint, and never had to sticker a car twice....they park elsewhere

 

[Cobra]

@Cobra Parking facing oncoming traffic is only an offence at night (unless things have changed ) So arrange to "tap" it after dark

That was my kinda thinking too
"Unfortunately" its parked within the "beam" of a street light, but TBH I'm not sure if that makes any difference?
Oh well its been there long enough now, so I guess they will claim "grandfather rights"
Actually I'm pretty sure I saw a feeder roots creeping out from underneath it the other day

 

[viv1969]

That was my kinda thinking too
"Unfortunately" its parked within the "beam" of a street light, but TBH I'm not sure if that makes any difference?
Oh well its been there long enough now, so I guess they will claim "grandfather rights"
Actually I'm pretty sure I saw a feeder roots creeping out from underneath it the other day

No difference whatsoever....go for it....take pictures

 

[Cobra]

...take pictures

I'll be sure too

 

[big soft moose]

isnt parking facing oncoming traffic only an offence on roads with a carriageway in each direction anyway ? If this is a standard MK estate the road probably qualifies as single track so 'oncoming' could be from either side

 

[viv1969]

If there's white lines, or it's a bus route Chris, you're good to go

 

[Cobra]

The oracle seems fair split on anecdotal evedence,
even to the point of someone being ticketed
because the police officer had reason to believe the
person concerned would drive on the wrong side of the road when leaving the spot.
Hmm thats a curious one.

However the highway code states


248
You MUST NOT park on a road at night facing against the direction of the traffic flow unless in a recognised parking space. Laws CUR reg 101 & RVLR reg 24

249
All vehicles MUST display parking lights when parked on a road or a lay-by on a road with a speed limit greater than 30 mph (48 km/h).
Law RVLR reg 24

250
Cars, goods vehicles not exceeding 1525 kg unladen weight, invalid carriages, motorcycles and pedal cycles may be parked without lights on a road (or lay-by) with a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) or less if they are:

• at least 10 metres (32 feet) away from any junction, close to the kerb and facing in the direction of the traffic flow
• in a recognised parking place or lay-by.

Other vehicles and trailers, and all vehicles with projecting loads, MUST NOTbe left on a road at night without lights.
Laws RVLR reg 24 & CUR reg 82(7)

 

[Cobra]

If there's white lines, or it's a bus route Chris, you're good to go

No centre white lines, but it is a bus route and as above, (250) I may have to get the tape measure out as it *Maybe*
> 10 meters from a junction

 

[viv1969]

The oracle seems fair split on anecdotal evedence,
even to the point of someone being ticketed
because the police officer had reason to believe the
person concerned would drive on the wrong side of the road when leaving the spot.
Hmm thats a curious one.

However the highway code states


248
You MUST NOT park on a road at night facing against the direction of the traffic flow unless in a recognised parking space. Laws CUR reg 101 & RVLR reg 24

249
All vehicles MUST display parking lights when parked on a road or a lay-by on a road with a speed limit greater than 30 mph (48 km/h).
Law RVLR reg 24

250
Cars, goods vehicles not exceeding 1525 kg unladen weight, invalid carriages, motorcycles and pedal cycles may be parked without lights on a road (or lay-by) with a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) or less if they are:

• at least 10 metres (32 feet) away from any junction, close to the kerb and facing in the direction of the traffic flow
• in a recognised parking place or lay-by.

Other vehicles and trailers, and all vehicles with projecting loads, MUST NOTbe left on a road at night without lights.
Laws RVLR reg 24 & CUR reg 82(7)

Oh...people parking close to junctions....drives me NUTS!!!

 

[Cobra]

Oh...people parking close to junctions....drives me NUTS!!!

We have some fairly tight bends around here circa 90o
and would you belive it? they even had to paint double yellows as pillocks were parking on the bends?
(and they still do BTW)

I find this one curious too.
244
You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere
So I guess I can, if it came to it.

 

[big soft moose]

I think if you hit you'll still be culpable even if it is illegally parked , unless you can prove you took all reasonsable steps to avoid it.

 

[viv1969]

Worth noting that many of the rules in the HWC are not covered by actual legislation....

 

[Cobra]

Worth noting that many of the rules in the HWC are not covered by actual legislation....

So they are irrelevant then? more guidance than laws?

 

[viv1969]

So they are irrelevant then? more guidance than laws?

Yup
The ones covered by actual legislation tend to quote it.
Some local bylaws do exists though

 

[Cobra]

Yup
The ones covered by actual legislation tend to quote it.
Some local bylaws do exists though

I didn't know that thanks

 

[big soft moose]

I find this one curious too.
244
You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere
So I guess I can, if it came to it.

Parking on the pavement isnt illegal outside of london unless the local authority has made an order banning it (if they have there'd be signs) - however if a cop sees you in the action of doing it he can do you under the 1835 highways act which forbids driving on the pavement.

 

[Cobra]

I think if you hit you'll still be culpable even if it is illegally parked , unless you can prove you took all reasonsable steps to avoid it.

I think its reasonable to assume that my comments were tongue in cheek, not even I
could get an Isuzu Denver over a Ka.
But the math I think are actually stacked in my favour,
the Ka takes up more than half of one side of "that side" of the road and the 4x4 is almost as long as the width of the road

Parking on the pavement isnt illegal outside of london unless the local authority has made an order banning it (if they have there'd be signs) - however if a cop sees you in the action of doing it he can do you under the 1835 highways act which forbids driving on the pavement.

That's interesting too, there are no signs stating that, here.
In fact I've not seen any anywhere stating that at all, in the area.
But "apparently" someone was ticketed awhile back, for having a couple of wheels on the pavement, well that is over the narrow grass verge, and
on the tarmac pavement,which is still plenty wide enough for people to walk 2 or 3 abreast, even with the car parked like that.
Whether or not they paid the fine I don't know.

 

[big soft moose]

That's interesting too, there are no signs stating that, here.
In fact I've not seen any anywhere stating that at all, in the area.
But "apparently" someone was ticketed awhile back, for having a couple of wheels on the pavement, well that is over the narrow grass verge, and
on the tarmac pavement,which is still plenty wide enough for people to walk 2 or 3 abreast, even with the car parked like that.
Whether or not they paid the fine I don't know.

I think - although i'm not 100% sure - that even in areas where is not strictly illegal to park on the pavement you can still be done for obstructing the footway - but that requires someone to make a complaint that they couldn't freely pass (thats certainly the case for footpaths , but most footways in the UK arent actual PRoWs but instead fall under highway law

 

[viv1969]

Pretty sure local parking restrictions are available online.

 

[Russ77]

In my example the guy parked across our drive.

Then that's an actual offence if they blocked you from leaving your property, although I've never got how it's deemed to be OK if they stop you getting on your property

 

[dinners]

In my example the guy parked across our drive.

If it's a dropped kerb, contact your council.
Many local authorities issue Penalty Charge Notices for this.

Then that's an actual offence if they blocked you from leaving your property, although I've never got how it's deemed to be OK if they stop you getting on your property

I'm going back almost 20 years to our old house. Fortunately we don't have the same issue any more but it's amazing how often I see cars parked across dropped kerbs.

 

[andya700]

One of my neighbours is a bit of an arse when it comes to parking also. He has a 2 car drive (we dont have a drive), but only ever parks one car on it, and the other directly outside my house. There are no designated spaces on our road either, so he wasnt parked in 'my' space exactly, but it still annoyed me one day on my way home with my little one in the car. It was absolutely chucking it down with rain, and really cold/windy, and I didnt really want to have to park at the end of the road and walk with the little'un from the end of the road.

So, I parked on his drive

Literally 4 seconds after I had walked through my front door, he was there knocking on it and demanding I moved my car. "No problem", I said. "We can do a swap, and ill park outside my house, and you can use the other half of your drive".

I wouldnt have bothered if I hadnt of had the little'un in the car. As i saidd, its not like he was in 'my' space. He is a complete though.

So, you were in the wrong and didn't have a leg to stand on.

 

[Gremlin]

Many years ago I was told that a general rule of thumb with the highway code is that if it says MUST NOT then it is based on law.
If it says DO NOT then it is advisory. Have to admit that I don't own a copy and haven't looked at one for many years, well since
I helped my girls when they were learning to drive.

On the parking over drives thing. My last house was in a cul de sac that also housed the local primary school.
At dropping off/picking up time or during special events at the school it was the normal thing to have drives blocked
each new term as new mums joined, normally a complaint to the school stopped it, but you always got a few
inconsiderate ones.
I did ask someone who knew the law on this and apparently there isn't one, you are entitled to park anywhere
on a public highway where it is allowed to do so. But if you are blocked in regularly then the police will often come and
have words with the offender on your behalf.

Sure I something on the News recently saying that parking on pavements was about to be made illegal nationwide, about time

 

[gumbo-67]

Not had many bad neihbours but the one bad one we did have was such a pain it eneded up with a hospital visit for my ex and a court case. Where I am now it is the bloody wildlife what cause more trouble.

 

[Nikon_Nick]

So, you were in the wrong and didn't have a leg to stand on.

If you want to see it that way, then yes, you are of course correct. However, I was doing what was best for my Daughter at the time so couldn't give a s**t if I was in the wrong or not

 

[Steve Smith]

If it's a dropped kerb, contact your council.
Many local authorities issue Penalty Charge Notices for this.

Even if it isn't, it's still access. We called the police once and had a car towed away. They said they could only do this if the car was obstructing you from getting out but not if you were out and couldn't get in.

Currently, only obstruction is an offence. The police here determine that it's obstruction if you can't get a double push chair through the gap.

I had an argument with a resident of a narrow street in London once as I had parked my van about 9" onto the pavement. I told him that I would rather have it on the pavement than sticking out into the road. He said he was going to call the police but just wandered off after I suggested that it would be a good idea if he did.


Steve.

 

[Blank_Canvas]

Worth noting that many of the rules in the HWC are not covered by actual legislation....

This is true. Except the ones that you must obey all signs, speed limits and instructions from a Police Officer etc etc.

 

[dejongj]

i once had a neighbour come out at 3am as i pulled up from a late night shift and tell me i couldn't park in front of their house (public road) as their daughter wanted to park there the next day

She said I should park across my own drive blocking in my dads car, when i suggested her daughter park on their own drive rather than the road (they have one car between them and a huge drive) she shouted at me to not tell her where to park her car!!!

I just looked at her blankly and walked into my house, can't argue with stupidity!

It does make me wonder a lot why people don't use their drive ways. Around where we live all houses have very sizeable driveways yet so many people leave their cars on the road. Fair enough with ice and snow and a slope I can have some sympathy but other than that why if why?

 

[dejongj]

If you want to see it that way, then yes, you are of course correct. However, I was doing what was best for my Daughter at the time so couldn't give a s**t if I was in the wrong or not

And besides that, yes it was, but you were highlighting the stupidity and selfishness of the situation quite clearly . I would have love to see the look on their face when you offered the swap.

 

[CaveDweller]

I take great pleasure in leaving nice colourful, very sticky, notes on car windscreens parking in our car park at work when they're going to other premises.

See I'm a nice guy, I'll ask to park if I need to visit other places. At my doctor surgery parking is a free for all even on a good day, just up the street is a small family run car part shop, Sometimes if there's no paking at the doctors I'll go into the shop and ask them if I can park there. They've always said yes but they might get fed up of me some point lol. I won't park in disabled bays either.