Tractor pushes parked cars out of the way

[anonymous-user]

IroningMan said:

matjk said:

IroningMan said:

Will the selfish parkers be reported for obstructing the highway, I wonder?

grey area, what does obstructing mean ?...

I'm sure it's defined in law somewhere.
...

It is, see previous page.

[anonymous-user]

citizensm1th said:

Breadvan72 said:

Is it a rule that you can only go for for a walk or attend a Remembrance service if you don't have a Jag? I missed that meeting.

No jaaags and nothing pre 1990

Well that's me fooked then.

[anonymous-user]

Farmers insurance will pay up, farmer will possibly get some points if he has a licence and a fine. Farmer will be a fking legend in his local and make back in free beer what he pays out on his fine.
Car drivers won’t park where they parked again and others will think twice.

[anonymous-user]

oakdale said:

What offence would the points be for?

Drive without due care and attention if he says he didn’t do it on purpose? Won’t get any points if he says he did it on purpose, may get away with a fine for criminal damage.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 13th November 22:31

[anonymous-user]

RUNAMOK said:

Full disclosure, I am both a farmer and one who enjoys walking in the fells. In fact, I parked right there at seathwaite about a month ago to walk up great end from borrowdale!

There are a couple of lay-bys or the farm has a field you can use (conditions allowing). It was in the week and not busy and I parked in a lay-by. For what it's worth I wouldn't have even considered parking on one side of the road outside of a lay by as it is very narrow and obviously the only access to the farm.

To those who are saying there was 'no need to damage the cars' or that the farmer should have done something else. The farm at seathwaite is at the end of the narrow lane with no other access. Assuming the farmer had work to do then there is no other option other than take an unscheduled morning/day/unknown length of time off. I have no idea if that was feasible. Livestock farmers do have things they must do quite often. There need not be an 'emergency'. From experience, missing windows of time in farming can have knock on effects greater than the task at hand. But I don't know the details, just showing that waiting half a day may have had wider implications.

The tractor and trailer i saw there (a Valtra for those interested) was of typical size for the task but not something you could squeeze through tight gaps. It is quite plausible that the damage was minimised as best to allow the day to continue. There is little phone signal there and you don't know how long people will be in the fells.

For those saying paint double yellows, totally unfeasible in that location.

More widely, on our farm we have some fields down a dead end lane too. Some people like parking in our gateways, dumping litter, letting their dogs mess without cleaning it up, letting dogs run around the fields, driving into the fields or just parking up and blocking access. But most are considerate that we are at work when we pass and I am grateful. At harvest time though, faced with an impassable stretch of lane and a couple of hours before rain I might conclude the best thing would be to squeeze past as best I can and crack on with my work.

Like you I know that area well and have parked up there many times. Tourists in the Lakes know no bounds when it comes to stupidly forgetting that real life also goes on in the valleys. Having said that, I'd be surprised if many of those parked at Seathwaite for the Great Gable service were not local, at least to Cumbria, and should have known better.

As for the farmer, I've lots of sympathy, however the road is straddled with fields. Dependent on the exact whereabouts of the blockage, it's not beyond the wit of man to have driven into a field, down a bit, and re-emerge on the road. Should he have to do that? No, of course not, however it's a better option than damaging cars.

I also don't buy that the farmer was acting on flood risk.

I suspect the farmer has been quite happy to take one on the chin, knowing the message will get out there that badly parked cars may end up chewed down one side. That's a pretty strong deterrent.

[anonymous-user]

I can't really believe that people on a motoring forum would defend someone destroying other peoples cars, just because they parked badly and he needed to get by. It wasn't a life or death situation like an ambulance or fire engine, just a farmer that needed to move some sheep or whatever.

Perhaps if we all go around smashing up any one elses property that blocks our path? Maybe the Asda delivery guy should smash through any cars blocking his path to deliver the shopping? After all, that's his job being interferred with there...money being lost blah blah.

The car drivers have had their punishment for being idiots, now I hope the farmer gets stung with a massive bill or sued by his insurance company, because he's just as much of a knob.

[anonymous-user]

akirk said:

JimSuperSix said:

I can't really believe that people on a motoring forum would defend someone destroying other peoples cars, just because they parked badly and he needed to get by. It wasn't a life or death situation like an ambulance or fire engine, just a farmer that needed to move some sheep or whatever.

Perhaps if we all go around smashing up any one elses property that blocks our path? Maybe the Asda delivery guy should smash through any cars blocking his path to deliver the shopping? After all, that's his job being interferred with there...money being lost blah blah.

The car drivers have had their punishment for being idiots, now I hope the farmer gets stung with a massive bill or sued by his insurance company, because he's just as much of a knob.

what has a motoring forum got to do with anything? are you saying that if folks had parked their helicopters there it would have been okay as it wouldn't have been cars?!

You appear to be hard of thinking , let me explain - cars were destroyed , this is a motoring forum, people said it was good. I then said the same about destroying "property" in general. Clear enough or do you need a diagram?

[anonymous-user]

andburg said:

lot of dribble posted here which i cant be bothered to read.

no excuse for doing that all so i have no sympathy for the farmer if hes ever actually located i he picks up a criminla conviction but lets face it he will get away with it.

Lets hope he does get away with it. They will never park like muppets agin = job well done.

[anonymous-user]

Mr2Mike said:

catso said:

Whatever the parking situation or obstruction, deliberately damaging cars in this manner is just wrong

Do you also disagree with fire appliances ramming badly parked cars out of the way to reach a burning building?

Im suspect action will be taken against the farmer, though i dont agree it should. If you park like a selfish cretin then you should reap the consequences.

Hopefully you can see that a fire engine / ambulance potentially saving lives is slightly different to a farmer trying to move some sheep?

[anonymous-user]

funkyrobot said:

My daughter has just stopped using a pram and stroller. The amount of times we have been on walks and we have had to either cross the road or go around a vehicle in the road beggars belief. So many people now simply do not care about where they dump their vehicle even when it completely blocks a path.

I have never done anything to damage vehicles that have been parked in such a stupid fashion. The temptation has been very strong though.

I'm glad the farmer did this. Maybe the inconsiderate gits will think about where they park next time.

Agree 100%, so many cars round our way that pavements have become impossible to use due to all the cars parked half on them. Hate to think what it would be like if you were a wheelchair user - easier to use the middle of the road than the pavement I'd have thought.

A lot of the problems caused by the council allowing developers to build flats/houses with either no parking provision, or just a single off road space, forgetting of course that many households have 2 x vehicles these days. Result = roads partially blocked and pavements rendered almost unusable.

Fair play to the farmer - the council/police would have had plenty of opportunities in the past to address this problem (but I suspect did nothing). I'd have done the same in his shoes. The fault lies with the police and council IMO.

[anonymous-user]

Paul O said:

Presumed there would be coffee shops, welcome huts or similar. Maybe not. :-s

Erm, this is rural Cumbria, not Convent Garden.

The road is almost single track, about a mile long and ends in the farmer's yard. There are rights of way through the yard that lead to some of the most popular mountains in the region. On the approach to the farm yard there is parking along the road side where cars can park well off the road.

The issue here is that in a busy period, some people had little or no consideration for the need for wide, articulated farm vehicles to pass. It could have been prevented by some level of 'official' organisation of the remembrance traffic and patrolling of the road, perhaps in conjunction with the farmer.

For the farmer, I'm sure he'll be frustrated and fed up with inconsiderate parking- it's a popular spot for those doing the 3 Peaks to park their cars/minibuses as well as being generally popular. I imagine it's the straw that broke the camel's back as much as anything.

I might be wrong, but I find it unlikely the farmer was facing some kind of emergency requiring the movement of his livestock that required or justified what he did. Anyone who know upland sheep farmers will probably accept they're prone to getting grumpy once in a while, however.

Of more concern is that this route would be used by Mountain Rescue in an emergency and, if a land ambulance were required (in the absence of the air ambulance), those parking inconsiderately may have prevented the wide-body ambulances that have been prevalent in Cumbria from getting to the end of the road.

[anonymous-user]

Seesure said:

I still don't get why people are supporting the farmer's actions ...

In my book it's inexcusable and deliberate damage to someone else's property regardless of whether they were in the right or wrong.

Don't be a d*ck, have you ever been a farmer? Are you even remotely aware of how hard they work (7 days a week) or how, surprise surprise, they need to access their fields regularly with trailers by using the public highway.

Perhaps instead the farmer should wait all day with a load of sheep tightly crammed into a trailer becoming more and more stressed and agitated? Animal cruelty?

If someone parked in-front of your drive and you needed to go out then what would you do? Wait in all day in the hope that the person that parked there would return? Call the police? The police just aren't interested in this sort of thing. Rather than dealing with things like this, they would prefer it seems to spend their time making themselves some extra cash by catching motorists traveling a few mph over the speed limit. Call the council - well good luck getting hold of someone on their automated telephone systems.

Nope you'd take matters into your own hands as it's the only way something would get done about the situation.

[anonymous-user]

Seesure said:

You mention sheep crammed in tightly on the trailer... how many sheep and how big was this trailer, how long had they been in the trailer?

Doh I don't know how many sheep, I didn't personally count them - just going by reports in the news that it was a sheep trailer with many sheep in it!

Seesure said:

Sorry - but you are talking out of your back end orifice - if someone blocked my driveway - sure I'd be pissed off but I wouldn't ram them out of the way...I would consider other options - and If I deliberately damaged someone else's property I'd expect to pay the repercussions...

Well I guess we are different - I would take the law into my own hands and if moving the said vehicles happened to cause damage them then so be it.

On the other hand you could argue that by blocking someone from going about their daily business then you could be liable for their loss of earnings?

[anonymous-user]

Seesure said:

I still don't get why people are supporting the farmer's actions ...

In my book it's inexcusable and deliberate damage to someone else's property regardless of whether they were in the right or wrong.

If this was on an inner city estate and a scally in a stolen car deliberately smashed in to 3 or 4 cars everyone would be on their high horses saying he should be locked up and told to pick the bar of soap up whilst in the showers...

Did the farmer stop and leave his contact details and take responsibility for the damage he caused? He needs to be treated in the same way as any other person who causes deliberate damage...

If you went out in to your street with a hammer and started smashing up vehicles you'd soon find yourself in front of a magistrate... so should this farmer...

Whilst I accept the visitors to area hadn't perhaps parked in the most considerate of manners the road wasn't blocked - do we actually know that the trailer (or whatever did the damage) was actually wider than the gap between the vehicles or was it a case of the red mist and full speed ahead with consideration...?

Because this is not some scrot from the inner city in a stolen car. It is a person, carrying out a extemely demanding job but is being stopped by a bunch of city tts.

[anonymous-user]

Seesure said:

Ah so this is actually the reason for supporting such crass action ....

And as such gives the offender the right to do as he pleases...

I do a demanding job, does that mean I'm entitled to plow through all those dawdlers and MLMs that stop me doing my job as quickly and effectively as I'd like ... ?

Yep, go for it.

[anonymous-user]

Seesure said:

1) And that makes it right and acceptable to do so ....?
2) In my opinion they are...

And it appears it's opinions that count.

So lets' look at some of the questions that should be asked ....

Was the farmer prevented from doing his job? we don't actually know - it was suggested this was the case.
What was the farmers potential loss of income? We don't actually know if there was any, so does this justify the cost of damage he took upon himself to met out to others?
Was the gap between the parked vehicles too narrow? we don't actually know as it is assumed it was, based on the photographs
What size was the tractor / trailer combo? we don't actually know as no one has cared to share / show it
Was the tractor and trailer combo unable to reverse? we don't actually know as we weren't there
How many sheep were in the trailer? we don't actually know but it has been mentioned by some as being crammed full
How much damage was done to the trailer? we don't actually know but people are only talking about damage to the cars
Were any sheep injured in the trailer? we don't actually know, but if it was crammed full then it's possible some could be injured

Where was the farmer's duty of care for his animals? we don't actually know as some are saying that by not driving through they could be exposed to stress etc, but crashing through and bashing against vehicles was the right thing to do and wouldn't have caused distress and potential harm to the sheep who would be trying to get away from the noise of metal grating against metal...possibly crushing each other..?

Seesure your life sounds like a lot of fun - who really gives a monkeys about the above? Life is too short. Farmer needs to move animals yet despite cars parked by selfish morons it seems he still got the job done. Lessons also taught to same selfish morons. For that I am pleased.

[anonymous-user]

Also to add, if it was my car damaged, would I go crazy at the farmer? Can you imagine getting into that argument?

Moronic Driver: "why the hell did you have to damage my car you bast*rd"?
Farmer: "I needed to move my sheep down the lane and because of the badly parked cars got stuck with my trailer"
Moronic Driver: "yes but couldn't you just have waited 4-5 hours until I was back from my walk"? . . . . . . . . .

[anonymous-user]

popeyewhite said:

vsonix said:

Lord Marylebone said:

Willy Nilly said:

As you live in the area, would it not be a good idea to (not you, natch) to provide some parking for people so they don't block the 'kin roads? Probably be more profitable that farming sheep and bullocks.

I was informed that a farmer has a field just along the road from where this happend where he allows cars to park and charges for it.

Apparently there was only a handful of cars using the field.

It seems to me that the type of people who go walking for fun would probably resent paying £2.50 to park in a field for a couple of hours as 'walking is free'

Cars clog the roads around the forest/reservoirs near me. New parking/no parking zones have been created and cars that misbehave are ticketed/towed. There is a large NT carpark nearby which is never full. Go figure.

I walk "for fun" but I dont resent paying parking charges, you have to pay to pretty much enjoying anything and I'd like to think part of the parking fee will help with the up keep of the place I'm walking (naive, yes but hey ho).

I will always try to select paid parking over free. Does not always happen but I try.

[anonymous-user]

Seesure said:

so that he can learn the lesson that his selfish moronic attitude and actions are not acceptable in any shape or form.

What? Selfish and moronic for wanting to be allowed to go about one of the most basic functions of his farmer job? Selfish and moronic for not wanting to wait 2,3,4,5,6 + hours or whenever it was that the walkers decided to arrive back at their cars? Really - do you actually believe the guff you're writing?

[anonymous-user]

Gareth79 said:

Even assuming they were at a service nearby (and not walking) he would have needed to leave the sheep, get to the service and interrupt it to get people to move them (and make a note of which cars, or tell people to move all of them).

The service is at the top of Great Gable, roughly a 2-3hr walk each way from where the cars were parked. If you allow an hour for the service that's a 5hr wait for the farmer minimum, but probably a much longer wait (7-8hrs) with the speed a lot of people walk.