A simple story about a simple man!
A simple story about a simple man!
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up-the-dubs

Original Poster:

4,282 posts

258 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
Just a short one...

Driving home half an hour ago I came accross a '93 Mazda 323 hatch ahead of me. The road we were on split into two lanes for about 400m on the run up to traffic lights. The Mazda pulled into the left lane as I started to catch up behind him. We were doing about 30-40mph. He then pulled back over to the right and then the left again finally finished his manouver slap bang in the middle of the road. We were still a distance from the lights.

I gave one quick flash to alert the driver, tired??, and he abruptly pulled into the left lane. We stopped at the lights beside each other, and he beeped at me. Gave me the fingers and started mouthing off! I laughed. He got angerier.

I pulled away as he stalled his car. He catches up, not hard as we were in a residential area, and starts flashing at me! Ignorance is bliss said I and kept on my merry way.

20 minutes later he's still behind me as I pull into my house. He gets out and tries to start an arguement following me to my door. I point up to the corner of the house and say "smile". He obliges. "Thank you" I said, you're now on camera on private property, please leave or the cops are on the way. He effed and blinded as I went into the house.

The problem with this situation? He was at least 80 years of age! Fair dues to the fiesty old lad, but dear god - learn to drive man.

cortinaman

3,230 posts

282 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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unfortunatly he's a member of a group of people who could easily end up doing this to the wrong person and could end up at the business end of a knife/hammer/shooter.....i think they are called the darwinians.

scared but happy

24,147 posts

258 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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Tell me about it, bloke up the road moaned like hell as I had to park my VW camper outside his house, got the usual "you can't park there, park outside your own house, my son comes over at weekends" etc. Must be at least 70! Give them an ASBO. Bloody hoodies

Lois

14,706 posts

281 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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Sorry Scared but Happy...I agree with the old fella on this one! Annoys the hell out of me when people park outside mine and then we cant get in.

Einion Yrth

19,575 posts

273 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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anonymous said:
[redacted]

Annoying it may be, but it's the public highway, and not the old codger's private property, he has no rights over it, and anyone whose vehicle is VED'ed can park there.

D Fender

377 posts

257 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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Was hand delivering a letter to a house on a T shaped cul de sac. One car wide "road" in gap between houses, one space on head of "T" at top. Park in space. Find letter. Get out of car to be confronted by old codger mouthing off about his son coming to see him and that's "his" space and I can't park there, despite the fact that, as I repeatedly explained to him, I'd have already been gone if he'd shut up..........














Eventually gave up, got back in car, drove off, and parked it.........














..........at the end of the access road, blocking access off dual carriageway. And walked back ...... v e r y s l o o o o l y......

D Fender

377 posts

257 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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I think wifey had to run back indoors to get his pills!


scared but happy

24,147 posts

258 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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mk6fiesta said:

anonymous said:
[redacted]



I agree it is sooo annoying, but as already mentioned theres nothing legally 'wrong' in doing it.
The chap 3 doors down from my parents has 6 cars! and will insist on parking them nose to tail down our short street if he gets half the chance. Its a real pain in the arse and if you lose the spot outside your house it can be days before you get it back


Blimey flamed I am talking about a main road NOT a private road with limited parking , I only hopped out of the Campervan to move my other car from the driveway to park it. I do agree with others though there is someone over the otherside of the road who parks their 3 cars exactly spaced so noone can get inbetween or park on the end (hence parking up the road to put my VW back onto the driveway).

scared but happy

24,147 posts

258 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
scared but happy said:

mk6fiesta said:


anonymous said:
[redacted]




I agree it is sooo annoying, but as already mentioned theres nothing legally 'wrong' in doing it.
The chap 3 doors down from my parents has 6 cars! and will insist on parking them nose to tail down our short street if he gets half the chance. Its a real pain in the arse and if you lose the spot outside your house it can be days before you get it back



Blimey flamed I am talking about a main road NOT a private road with limited parking or infront of someones driveway, I only hopped out of the Campervan to move my other car from the driveway to park it. I do agree with others though there is someone over the otherside of the road who parks their 3 cars exactly spaced so noone can get inbetween or park on the end (hence parking up the road to put my VW back onto the driveway).


Edited dor speelng

minimax

11,985 posts

285 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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Einion Yrth said:

anonymous said:
[redacted]


Annoying it may be, but it's the public highway, and not the old codger's private property, he has no rights over it, and anyone whose vehicle is VED'ed can park there.


absolutely right. although if it's blocking access to a driveway lois has a valid point I feel

parrot of doom

23,075 posts

263 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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This whole 'you can't park outside my house' actually has some validaty, I remember reading in the paper of a case where somebody was taken to court for continually parking outside another house, and actually lost the case.

Something to do with some historic right of access (this wasn't blocking the drive btw), horse & cart days kind of stuff.

scared but happy

24,147 posts

258 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
parrot of doom said:
This whole 'you can't park outside my house' actually has some validaty, I remember reading in the paper of a case where somebody was taken to court for continually parking outside another house, and actually lost the case.

Something to do with some historic right of access (this wasn't blocking the drive btw), horse & cart days kind of stuff.

This is intresting. So you cannot park outside someones house (not dropped kerb etc). Hmmm. That is bizare. Christ the roads around here will be empty then Can you find any further information about this POD? and is it still valid (or are we talking about one of these sheep-on-a-Wednesday to market via high street type thing).

Twincam16

27,647 posts

287 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
mk6fiesta said:

anonymous said:
[redacted]



I agree it is sooo annoying, but as already mentioned theres nothing legally 'wrong' in doing it.
The chap 3 doors down from my parents has 6 cars! and will insist on parking them nose to tail down our short street if he gets half the chance. Its a real pain in the arse and if you lose the spot outside your house it can be days before you get it back



Our driveway funnels itself between two trees so there's only one, narrow-ish way out. Problem is, our next door neighbour is a gas-man and does building work on the side, and is always having things don to his house. As a result, there can be in excess of three vans parked outside. Problem is, if one infringes the exit of our drive by so much as a foot, you couldn't get a car in without knocking a tree and a wall down

up-the-dubs

Original Poster:

4,282 posts

258 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
Good god!

I've just spent the last half hour explaining to the cops that I was not a road-raged dangerous driver. The crazy man from last night reported me to the police for said offences!

Only for the fact that I knew the officer in charge (we've had 5 attempted breakins and 4 attempts on the cars in the last year) did he agree that crazy man might in-fact be telling porky-pies. He just had to call 'round to get my side.

Still a cup of coffee and some biscuits, and another happy member of the force. Plus a few jokes at the expense of crazy man!

Fatboy

8,267 posts

301 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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anonymous said:
[redacted]

There's a difference between just parking in the street and blocking someone's driveway though...

scared but happy

24,147 posts

258 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
Fatboy said:

anonymous said:
[redacted]


There's a difference between just parking in the street and blocking someone's driveway though...

Thank you

parrot of doom

23,075 posts

263 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
scared but happy said:
This is intresting. So you cannot park outside someones house (not dropped kerb etc). Hmmm. That is bizare. Christ the roads around here will be empty then Can you find any further information about this POD? and is it still valid (or are we talking about one of these sheep-on-a-Wednesday to market via high street type thing).


It was in the Manchester Evening News many years back, a neighbour showed it to me.

It was some complaint about a person who kept parking outside his neighbour's house, the court decided that he had no reason to park there, and told him to clear off or such.

D Fender

377 posts

257 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
minimax said:
Einion Yrth said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Annoying it may be, but it's the public highway, and not the old codger's private property, he has no rights over it, and anyone whose vehicle is VED'ed can park there.
absolutely right. although if it's blocking access to a driveway lois has a valid point I feel


Is he blocking access to the driveway or to the highway?

I once read a post from some BiB on another forum along the lines of it's illegal to block access to the highway, but not the other way round.

I think that's the right way round. I rationalised it as the highway being there to let you get from A to B. If you block someone in from getting on the highway at A to get to B you're stopping them from using the highway for getting from A to B. But if they've got on the highway at A, gone to B, and got there, the fact you're blocking their drive doesn't stop them using the highway.

And I suppose in the old days ordinary houses didn't have drives, if you had a carriage your groom or whatever took it away for you. It was just the blocking in, a kind of kidnap, that was a problem. Leaving you free to roam the highways and byeways wasn't.


c c

8,052 posts

268 months

Sunday 29th May 2005
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I could be mistaken but I think just about anywhere you park on a public road could be technically causing an obstruction. Because you are denying that part of the road to other users.

wedg1e

27,035 posts

294 months

Sunday 29th May 2005
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Einion Yrth said:

anonymous said:
[redacted]


Annoying it may be, but it's the public highway, and not the old codger's private property, he has no rights over it, and anyone whose vehicle is VED'ed can park there.


Unless things have changed, as far as I'm aware nobody has the 'right' to park on a public highway.
Not only that, but as far as I know they never officially revoked the requirement for a parked vehicle to display 'parking' lights overnight....
Technically, every vehicle parked on the public road is causing an obstruction.