Road blocked by parked (?) car

[StanleyT]

Hi, what can you do if a car has been parked such that you can't get past. Mum lives on a road which is single for much of the length. Outside a five house terrace, where there is just enough room to drive past, if you park on the pavement. The terraces have drives in the front gardens strangely enough - only time I think I've ever seen that.

I thing the parkee parked in the storms last Saturday, not realising that the "verge" on the other side of the road is actually a foot deep two foot wide overgrown ditch / drain .

I did knock on all five doors but three answers and knew nothing and two houses didn't answer.

As it was I reversed a bit, turned round, drove the two miles around to the other end of Mums lane and came in that way all the time wishing the farmer from Borrowdale needed to move his sheep along her road.

How would you report this and whom to, whilst you can get in the other end of Mums road there is a 6ft 6 bridge with axel restrictions, things like the bin lorries, tractors and builders merchants hi-abs can't get out that end.

[Pica-Pica]

Your council website should have a contact number or reporting system. Always best to have your council website as a ‘favourite’ website.

[StanleyT]

That is what I did at Mums house via their "contacts us" form, bearing it was 8pm on Saturday last. I got an automated reply to say that my query had been recieved and one of their team would investigate in the next 10 working days.

So I left a note and a photo on the local dibbles Twitter feed. They replied on Monday that the car was gone when a PCSO had walk down the road!

So those didn't look like an option if you need to get past there and then and fake calling 999 is just being silly.

Just wondered if I'd missed anything.

I did like my mates suggestion at work that I keep a set of wheel skates and move the car on car ramps over the ditch side of the road, but I suspect naughty naughty for that.

[Dave Hedgehog]

a set of these and leave it in a box junction etc. already suggested


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vehicle-Positioning-Hydra...

[StanleyT]

Excellent idea Mr. Hedgehog.

I think the nearest box junction is about 50 miles away! That'll really confuse them!

[eldar]

One of these in their exhaust. Almost impossible to remove ....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/322812406541

[andygo]

eldar said:

One of these in their exhaust. Almost impossible to remove ....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/322812406541

Well if you are going down that route:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-expanding-f...

[untakenname]

Making the vehicle immobile would surely just make matters worse?

Best bet would be some additional wheel weights as it will allow the car to drive away but as the speed increases will cause the car to vibrate and would be really hard to pin down the cause.

[rainmakerraw]

untakenname said:

Making the vehicle immobile would surely just make matters worse?

Best bet would be some additional wheel weights as it will allow the car to drive away but as the speed increases will cause the car to vibrate and would be really hard to pin down the cause.

Jesus, excellent. Passive-aggressively subtly modify the vehicle so that the driver will, at some undetermined time in the near future, discover a fault that they have no idea is resultant from their poor parking. Genius.

[fastbikes76]

untakenname said:

Making the vehicle immobile would surely just make matters worse?

Best bet would be some additional wheel weights as it will allow the car to drive away but as the speed increases will cause the car to vibrate and would be really hard to pin down the cause.

Haha that is sneaky as fk and would take a lot to work out who did it or when it happened. Book marked that one for the next tt who blocks my van in on my drive when I’m on call out !

[StanleyT]

Excellent. Just what this forum is all about.

Anyway. Went to Mums as I do at the weekend.

She has got the full story now.

Remember I mentioned rain.

Remember I mentioned ditch.

Well the road was flooded in the section just before where the car was "parked" (actually abandoned in water as the driver didn't actually know where road / pavement were as the vehicle drew to a halt. The reason one of the houses was empty was the owner was taking the youg shocked female driver back home in his nice big 4x4. (OR took her to the barn round the back and had a game of chess or whatever).

The driver had gone through the flood and their car broken down. Hazards were on in the afternoon, but by the time we'd driven along battery must have been flat, making it look "parked". Was picked up Sunday am on a low loader.

So that at least answers the question. How do you get a car moved if it is blocking the road. The answer is to build a moat around the car, flood it, put large airbags under it and float it away!