Bollard on own drive/land

verybigchris

Lum wrote: »

On a related note, if someone has sufficiently poor ethics that they're prepared to park on a private driveway, surely if you put a bollard up they will just park on the street blocking your driveway.

This is perfectly legal to do, so long as there isn't currently a vehicle on the driveway .

I'm sure you must have more rights to remove the car when it's actually on your property than you would it being legally parked on the street.

Anyone know what rights you actually do have to dispose of items left on your property?

Not true. Rule 243 of the Highway Code (readable here) states: "DO NOT stop or park in front of an entrance to a property except when forced to do so by stationary traffic."

goldspanners

verybigchris wrote: »

Not true. Rule 243 of the Highway Code (readable here) states: "DO NOT stop or park in front of an entrance to a property except when forced to do so by stationary traffic."

its not law though.

verybigchris

goldspanners wrote: »

its not law though.

But it provides sufficient legal grounds for the the vehicle to be classed as an obstruction, which is illegal under Section 137 of the Highways Act 1980.

Pitlanepiglet

OP, is it just the drive for one house, it isn't shared access or anything similar? It's a bit unusual for someone to randomly park on someone else's single drive but more likely to be a problem if it is shared access.

Lum

verybigchris wrote: »

But it provides sufficient legal grounds for the the vehicle to be classed as an obstruction, which is illegal under Section 137 of the Highways Act 1980.

Only obstruction if it's preventing lawful access to the highway, which is only true if there is a car parked on the driveway to be obstructed.

verybigchris

Lum wrote: »

Only obstruction if it's preventing lawful access to the highway, which is only true if there is a car parked on the driveway to be obstructed.

That's an interesting point. Of course if the driveway leads to a garage which may or may not contain a vehicle, then the driver of the parked car has no way of knowing if he's blocking anyone, so I guess then it gets really confusing

cyclonebri1

Lum wrote: »

Only obstruction if it's preventing lawful access to the highway, which is only true if there is a car parked on the driveway to be obstructed.

This is getting stupid, assuming the house has a garage how would anyone know if there was or was not a car in there?

I thought it was an offence whether or not a drive was occupied provided there was a dropped kerb ??

custardy

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

This is getting stupid, assuming the house has a garage how would anyone know if there was or was not a car in there?

I thought it was an offence whether or not a drive was occupied provided there was a dropped kerb ??

no IIRC the offence is blocking someone from joining the highway

cyclonebri1

custardy wrote: »

no IIRC the offence is blocking someone from joining the highway

Just came accross from another forum sorry not a full linke but dated sept 2009;

Re: Blocking my Driveway - Help please
hi lamma and rory32, here is the response I have received from my County council highways regualtions department.

"The dropped kerb area is still public highway, and as such the public have a right to pass and repass (basically you should not be parking on the crossover) but you have the right to cross from the carriageway to your property via the legally constructed access.

It is against the law to block a legally constructed dropped kerb access to a property.

The Police have power of enforcement, and you are within your rights to call the Police if someone has parked in such a way as to prevent you access or egress (the right of a person to leave a property in property law ) at your property. The Police have the power to request the vehicle be removed, or to remove the vehicle.

The only time you would not have support of enforcement is if you were crossing the public highway illegally (bumping the kerb, driving over verge, driving over footway) to gain access to your property. If this were the case and someone parked where you illegally cross, then the Police could not be involved because you would be the one acting unlawfully, not the person parking outside the property. "

So... whilst the public have a right to walk over the dropped kerb bit that forms part of the pavement, (which is what you would expect) it is illegal to block my access and exit ( as I have a legally constructed dropped kerb under licence) So whilst I hope it will not be necessary to involve the police at least I know that I can! and I havent wasted all that money by having the dropped kerb put in.
Thank you all for your help.

derrick

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

This is getting stupid, assuming the house has a garage how would anyone know if there was or was not a car in there?

Quite agree, has happened to me a lot with my ignorant next door neighbours,(she is a cop), visitors, I just call the police and they sort it, I think it depends on the police force and how busy they are

From Ask the Police

Q440: Someone has parked his or her car and it is blocking my driveway.

If the vehicle is blocking access to your driveway then you should first make enquiries with the neighbours to see if they know who the car belongs to. If no one knows, then you should contact the police who will attend to the matter as soon as they are able.
Policy may vary from force to force, some forces may only attend if your car is blocked in and you cannot get out.