MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Would you dent someone’s car if they blocked you in?

tomthered

Arryhall wrote: »

White lines on carparks. Interesting that that has been raised a time or two, because it is an offense according to the traffic wardens I work with, and if you park across white lines, thus not "in the parking bay" it'll cost you £60. And as CCTV covers the car parks, if you are forced to adopt such a position due to other inconsiderate parkers, then the CCTV can be used to challenge the ticket and get it cancelled. Course, if YOU are the instigator of a "I have a Mercades so will use 2 bays to prevent anyone parking near me" it'll cost. And I'll park so my wing mirror blocks your wing mirror in. Gits.

As for calling the police to a parking incident, that's LAUGHABLE! Since parking became a council matter rather than a police matter, the police response is to tell you to call the council. Who aren't open after 5. Who also can't do anything other than issue a ticket. Which means you are still stuck there till whenever the cars move. Personally, I drive a knackered old Peugeot because in my experience, other people have no compunction of ramming your car with shopping trolleys, kids actually run over the cars, wing mirrors regularly disappear, and deliberate childish scratches are universal. It's just not worth the bother of getting a decent car for insensitive gits and ferrel kids to knacker it up for you. So Ram away, I say!

Amusingly, I was once blocked in at work, by 2 police cars! One was parked half in a disabled bay, the other half his car blocking mine in completely. I called the police to be told that they can park anywhere they like whilst "gathering evidence", or in this case, gathering a cup of tea and a portion of chips. So I "moved" it out of the way for them. I checked the CCTV of the building (coz I control it!) and they returned to the car 5 hours after the call i made. Hence my lack of compunction to ram 'em.

Another time, I was parked in the driveway around the back of the building. Dropped curb, gates, signage etc. The police Camera van parked completely over the gate, thus blocking me in completely. It is a big van, and I was facing uphill so couldn't move it. I called the police (again) to be told (again) that they can park wherever they like for as long as they like, but they might get someone to move it eventually. Took them 2 hours to do so. And they are based IN THE BUILDING WHERE I WORK! It's a 40 second walk away!
*rant mode off*

The police cannot park anywhere they like just as they cannot speed anytime they like. The have a duty of care as when speeding, even on blues and twos, they can still be prosecuted for careless driving. This statement is crass and if it was me the first thing I would have done is phone up their headquarters and ask for the Chief Constable. You would have got a senior officer and could then explain the situation. As far as I undestand the traffic law it applies to ALL vehicles regardless of whether it is a police vehicle or not. They are still subject to traffic laws and you can insist they are ticketed if they are infringing the law.

This attitude of 'there is a law for us and one for the general public' stinks and until we all make them accountable by going to their bosses it will continue.

:T

MadRob

This happened to me a few years ago. Fortunately i was with a few mates and we were able to bounce the car so that it was 90 degrees to the footpath. I could get my car out and they were left parked facing the path. Maybe they even got a ticket!:D

dobbiesloan

yes.............................

Arryhall

Unfortunately, when you call the police, you no longer speak to a policeman. You speak to a civillian who then processes the call, decides its' importance and then places it in a list in order of priority, which is why, when you call them up because you are being burgled, they show up three days later. It's the fault of the handlers, not the police themselves. It is, unfortunately, the people on the phone who you speak to who tend to have this attitude of self-righteous ability to do whatever the police like with no regard to anyone else. It isn't the fault of the police themselves.

Well, parking the cars is, but that's just stupidity on the count of several individuals.

So you are pretty safe to shove a cop car out the way an'all! :rotfl: There ain't no coppers about to stop ya!

ciaran_od

without a doubt I would give it a little push in order to get out. But then again I do drive a bulldozer!!!!!:D

Penny_Pincher_37

I've not been in this exact situation but theoretically, I would do so if I had to (i.e. can't find the owners of the cars and cannot afford to sit and wait for them). However, I have been in situations where I have parked in a car park neatly in my parking space but the person next to me has either parked on the line or even into my space and the only way to get my son into his car seat is to open my door onto their car. Don't think I have ever damaged another car - certainly tried not to - but I do think people have to park responsibly in a public place and if they don't they are putting the safety of their paintwork at risk...

mmlb

Yes I would. You have no idea how often this happens to me outside my house and it's not like I don't leave plenty of room either side. I even had one occasion when a moped was rammed into the space between the car in front of me and my car AND the idiot behind was so close you couldn't get a wafer thin mint between us. Suffice to say one had a strop-o-gram and one was summoned from their house to move the offending vehicle!

jgriggle

Yes, have done it and would do it again! As far as I'm concerned, as soon as someone makes the choice to block you in, they've made the choice to risk damage to their car. May even go as far as to leave a note on the windscreen saying something along the lines of 'In case you were wondering, yes the dent in your car WAS caused by the car you blocked in. Have a nice day!' Harsh but fair...

LindaMBACP

Depends on how much time I had/how late they were making me/the car I was driving at the time.

My gut reaction is yes, I would. If they are so careless and inconsiderate they deserve all they get (and as I lived in France for many years, I do have the thought lingering in the back of my mind that that's what bumpers are for ...) If it looked as if I would damage my own car I'd think again, and if there was anyone around I'd think twice, but if I had to get somewhere fast and I wasn't going to damage my own car then yes, I'd bump them until I could get out and serve them right!

petersandyglen

In America it's standard practice, that's why they are called bumpers. Peter.