I was parked in South West London yesterday afternoon. All perfectly legal, inside a parking bay, displaying a vistor\'s permit, etc. When I got back some moron had parked his Volvo S80 with the front number plate touching mine, and on double yellow lines, and on a speed hump, and facing the wrong way, and obstructing someone\'s drive, but displaying a resident\'s permit (which I guess made it OK).
While shuffling the car back and forward, aided and abetted by my passengers so that I avoided any contact with moron\'s car or the one behind, I was subjected to all manner of abuse from this pathetic individual. Apparantly I should go away and never visit that locality again. Interesting that I am a pink fluffy dice as my father was one of the observers.
Some people simply shouldn\'t be allowed out on their own.
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You should have put his head between the bumpers and seen how much pressure you can place on a human skull between two bits of plastic.
Maybe that's a bit over the top. A slap would have probably sorted him.
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Can we all form an orderly line to administer said slap?
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In some ways I can sympathise. It gets very annoying at times to have lots of visitors in the street, as well as people from surrounding streets deciding they'd rather park on ours for some reason, meaning that if you go out in the evening there is a very good chance you won't be able to get parked on your own street, let alone near your own house when you get back. I've wanted to at the very least put a note on the car telling them to expletive off and park somewhere else. Not applicable to you, but what annoys me most are the ones that seem unable to think when they park and leave gaps almost but not quite large enough to get another car in front and back, and the idiot on the corner who has told his friends they are welcome to dump their vans on our street when they don't need them.
I always try and park out of the way when I visit friends, but sometimes you get situations where there just aren't enough parking spaces to go around, and the residents have the most to lose when they can't get one... It'd be nice if there was an amicable solution really!
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Steve - I think that FergusTheDog's point (my, my arent' we attracting the most intelligent canines!) was that he had a visitor's permit and so was perfectly entitled to park where he did. The attitude of the other chap frankly stank - there is *nothing* in law to state that you are allocated a space outside your own front door. And arrogant and agressive parking like that does nobody any favours.
Don't get me wrong - I've suffered with stupid parking in the past (see 'Selfish (and dangerous) parking' thread) but I'm afraid the answer is to adopt a 'que sera sera' attitude. Not easy, I know, but if we all chilled out a little more then I'm sure the world would be a hoopier place. And before you ask, I'm not smoking anything at the moment, legal or otherwise!
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I realise that, Rob, but it's not the point. My street has no restrictions so anyone is entitled to park there, but as there is little enough space for the residents as it is, it makes things difficult and annoying when they do. There are other things to consider - people might not be happy leaving their car a long way from their house, may have lots of shopping to carry in, or may have a less mobile passenger. However, in some ways I (and the chap referred to) are being greedy in expecting to park in our own street and outside our own house. Would be nice though!
One thing I was wondering actually - if a street isn't adopted (I'm not sure, but I don't think ours is) does that mean that we do effectively own the parking space outside our house?
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Fair enough Steve - I'm really only talking hypothetically as I'm lucky enough to live oop north where I have my own little off-road spot for my car.
If your street isn't adopted, then I'm not too sure about parking. One thing I do know though is that if the council decrees that it needs resurfacing, it can get a court order forcing all the owners to contribute towards the cost. There, I'll bet that's cheered you up, hasn't it?
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I did have an off-road parking space. However, so many people decided they'd park blocking the passageway leading to it that I've stopped using it and made it in to a patio. Doesn't matter if you are in the right or wrong complaining about this - the fact you can't get the car out is the main factor.
(I'm oop north as well, and I guess not that far from you - Stockport)
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Basically, I think that I'd better stop waffling on about something that doesn't really affect me and shut the doo-dah up!
I'm in Chorley. Shouldn't really admit to that in public, should I?
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It's difficult to appreciate unless you are in the situation where you can't always get parked anywhere near where you want to. And I'm sure there are places worse than my street!
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Many years ago, one of my hareem lived quite near a town centre where they suddenly decided to slap down yellow lines for no clear reason. So I had to cruise round and round to look for somewhere to park just to go and see her. Looking back, it wasn't really worth the effort, but love is blind eh? Incidentally, it took me longer to walk from where I'd parked the car than it did to drive there in the first damned place!
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Parking rage?
Very common in SW London! I used to live there for my sins. The council for one insist on giving out many more permits than there are spaces. Of course, someone with a permit believes they have a god given right to park their car as they live there and woe betide any oik (not them, in this case you) who decides to park there.
I found that, providing they didn't look capable of murder, a very calm and polite "would you like me to call the police to mediate this?" usually results in their realisation of the error of their ways...
As an aside, I used to live in a flat in Putney. Whenever you heard anyone start there car up the race was on! Everyone comes flying out of their flat, running to where they had been forced to (legally or otherwise) abandon their cars and then it's usually a close race as to who manages to get back to the newly opened up spot. It is given that should you lose you give up gracefully but those who do not play the game (i.e. happen to be passing at the time and nab the space before any of the competing residents) are free target for any verbal abuse or any swear words you may have recently learnt...
Am surprised anyone in SW London can afford an S80 with the house prices!
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We regularly get people parking cars behind other cars thus obstructing their exit. Sometimes it is visitors who cannot be bothered to park 50m away and walk. Sometimes it is neighbours. I was blocked in once and spent an hour trying to find the owner. I once had a neighbour ring the doorbell late at night asking if it was my car that was blocking her in. She had to drive to work early the next morning. I think she ended up driving across a neighbours front lawn and flower bed to get out. I find this, and the tale that started this thread, hard to figure.
I wonder if this is a criminal offence - obstructing a drive way - and whether or not any action can be taken?
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Unecessary Obstruction! Non endorsable ticket offence. All you need is someone to fill it out and slap it on! Take great pleasure in dishing these out in the right circumstances, blocking someones access is both ignorant and arrogant.
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I live in a short SW London cul-de-sac with resident's parking where there are more cars than spaces. However, there are 8 pay-and-display bays. I think I might write to the council to get four changed to shared use since it is rare that there are ever more than two or three using them and paying.
The warden regularly comes round but many cars seem to get away with being lucky, having no resident's or visitor's permit. Cars do get ticketed though. That regularly includes residents with permits, for straddling a yellow line slightly or using the pay-and-display bays.
I believe that poor parking was in some way 'legalised' by giving power to the councils instead of the police. However, once on a Saturday night (out of controlled hours) there was not a space except for one in front of some narrow hardstanding of a neighbour's house. I know that there is *never* a car parked on it. The owners car won't fit without blocking the footpath and sticking onto the road. He called the police out. They weren't particularly interested, feeling it was a waste of their time. A housemate answered the door to them - by the time I had come downstairs they were gone and the police car was turning out the end of the street.
Some people are incredibly possessive about the space immediately in front of their house, moving their car if 'their' space becomes free. I just park in any space other than the one immediately outside the house. It's at the end of the road and cars in it always get bumped or scraped by people stuggling to turn around.
I see people get annoyed by tight parking situations but the abuse given to Fergus is appalling. He could have at least let you out of the space before taking it himself, instead of being downright rude. Maybe he gets no visitors to see him if he treats other people that way.
James
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I sometimes have trouble when I get to work on the motorbike in London W1 because there are about 15 bike spaces in the bay by the office; 6 or 7 are permanently occupied by residents' bikes but what gets my goat is that residents cars in the next bay often overlap onto the bike bay, taking out another couple of spaces.
I've pointed out to the Parking Attendants (i.e. Revenue Protection Mafia) but they are not interested as no revenue is being lost and, as they are Camden Council lackeys rather than traffic wardens they are not interested that the offending car is partly in the wrong category of space.
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Parking in Putney's not that bad. Although I do live in one of the less salubrious areas.
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Missed something, there were at last 3 vacant bays about 50 metres from where I was parked.
Apparantly it's just something we have to put up with in Britain today. A bit like someone scratching "B*****D" on the boot lid of a colleague's A4 and another coleague having his Peugeot's windows emulsioned.
Perhaps the canine should have bitten the p******?
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A bit like someone scratching "B*****D" on the bootlid of a colleague's A4 and another coleague having his Peugeot's windows emulsioned.
Less severe but I had "Merry Christmas" scrawled across my (light blue) bonnet in black permanent marker 2 years ago while in a car park
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Where i lived before, my neighbour used to give me hell by blocking my car when it was in my drive, or garaged so i often could not get it out to go to work, he was a hen pecked idiot who just could not afford my end house with loads of space etc, but one day he got my goat so i phoned the police and told them about it, they did send a cop on motor cycle to see what was up, he spoke to my neighbour and then came to see me, he told me he had told him that he was going to pop down every morning to see if i was blocked in and if i were he was going to give him a ticket. Made my day, trouble is if the neighbour had been pleasanter he too could have used my drive so much room so i gave the space to my young next door neighbour the other way to put his decorating van out of reach of the streetidiots. Well its not my fault being a woman who earned twice as much as the hen pecked hubby. Anyhow got promotion, now got a nice little detached house with loads of driveway and a double garage too.
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