How much fine for blocking doctor's surgery driveway?

sarahg1969

whitewing wrote: »

OP, why were you so selfish as to park across a driveway?

Selfishness is not an offence, I'm afraid. It's OK to park across an empty driveway, legally, if not morally.

whitewing

sarahg1969 wrote: »

Selfishness is not an offence, I'm afraid. It's OK to park across an empty driveway, legally, if not morally.

I understand that, I am just genuinely interested in why the OP did it.

sarahg1969

whitewing wrote: »

I understand that, I am just genuinely interested in why the OP did it.

They said they thought it would be OK, because the surgery was closed. And to be fair, there's no evidence that anyone actually wanted to use the driveway. It could have been a meddlesome neighbour who called the police.

poet123

sarahg1969 wrote: »

Selfishness is not an offence, I'm afraid. It's OK to park across an empty driveway, legally, if not morally.

How do you know it is empty if there is a garage? surely it is obstruction?

sarahg1969

poet123 wrote: »

How do you know it is empty if there is a garage? surely it is obstruction?

I don't, and neither do you, so there's no point making assumptions. The OP wanted advice about the legalities. Not the usual mauling from other posters that one usually sees in relation to these topics.

Opinions are irrelevant when there is a straightforward legal point at issue.

If it were obstruction, and if there had been a genuine problem, no doubt the police would have dealt with it. They seem to have been happy with the situation.

poet123

sarahg1969 wrote: »

I don't, and neither do you, so there's no point making assumptions. The OP wanted advice about the legalities. Not the usual mauling from other posters that one usually sees in relation to these topics.

Opinions are irrelevant when there is a straightforward legal point at issue.

If it were obstruction, and if there had been a genuine problem, no doubt the police would have dealt with it. They seem to have been happy with the situation.

If there is a garage, surely it is common sense to err on the side of caution and assume a car may be inside or at least want access?

Clearly it was obstruction, what the police chose to do about it is an entirely different matter.

lucylucky

poet123 wrote: »

If there is a garage, surely it is common sense to err on the side of caution and assume a car may be inside or at least want access?

Clearly it was obstruction, what the police chose to do about it is an entirely different matter.

There you go - that's what is missing so often.

sarahg1969

poet123 wrote: »

If there is a garage, surely it is common sense to err on the side of caution and assume a car may be inside or at least want access?

Indeed. But that's not what the thread is about.

I don't understand why people come on here moralising when all that's being asked is a simple legal question. It would be considered very rude to do the same on, say, the debt board.

poet123

sarahg1969 wrote: »

Indeed. But that's not what the thread is about.

I don't understand why people come on here moralising when all that's being asked is a simple legal question. It would be considered very rude to do the same on, say, the debt board.

So, legally it was obstruction, that the police chose (seemingly) to turn a blind eye, does not alter the legality of the issue. No moralising, just legal fact.

sarahg1969

poet123 wrote: »

So, legally it was obstruction, that the police chose (seemingly) to turn a blind eye, does not alter the legality of the issue. No moralising, just legal fact.

Not necessarily. It is an offence to obstruct the highway or access on to the highway. It is not an offence to obstruct access from the highway on to a driveway. If there were no vehicle on the drive and no vehicle in any garage that may or may not exist, then parking over the driveway would not constitute an offence of obstruction. It is, however, inconsiderate, which I'm sure most posters would agree with.