Money Moral Dilemma: Should I park outside someone else's house to avoid paying?

onomatopoeia99

wenceslas51 wrote: »

Why are people not using public transport?Most of the free parkers are the only occupants of the car. By all means park where you like,but why not take the bus or carshare?

Carshare : I liven in a small village, work 7.30am to 4pm, but the finish time is variable and can overrun by a lot if I have a problem that I need to get finished before I leave. Who will want to share a car with me?

Public transport : The only option is the bus. It doesn't come within a mile of work, it costs more than the fuel would for me to drive, and my experiences when I have used it are that it as well as more than doubling the journey time, it frequently doesn't turn up at all. Not to mention the driver just driving straight past the stop while I'm waiting with my hand out (and when there's only one bus on that route per hour, that's REALLY annoying). Why would I use it?


This is all moot, we have parking spaces at work and since I'm first in every day I always get one rather than needing to park on the residential street outside (which during term time is full of the cars of sixth form girls from the very expensive private girls school up the road).

ButterflyLC

This one is a bit difficult for me. On one hand I do agree that it is a public road and as such, you have as much right as anyone to park there. However, it depends on the type of estate. The one I live in is next to a school and a few businesses, and even with their free car parks, they choose to avoid the traffic on the main road and park in our estate. There are private residents parking signs everywhere and the streets are pretty narrow with no actual pavement to park next to. There is a kerb and then just grass. The problem for me is that I pay fees over and above my council tax for the upkeep of the roads, pavements and grass verges. Is it morally right that someone should be able to park on a narrow street, most of the time parked up on the grass to get more cars in to pick the kids up, blocking one of only two exits for residents, just to save a few minutes considering we pay for any damage caused?

rose28454

We have had the same issue in out street as our town got bigger and bigger and it used to annoy me. However the council are now going to put yellow lines around the corner near my home as the parking became so bad at the junction it was causing accidents.
Means I wont be able to park outside and I can t have a drive as too near the junction but we have decided to dig up part of our back lawn and make a space as we have rear access.
Life's is too short to be annoyed about it.

EssexHebridean

louisewestlake wrote: »

Yeah it's great that the myself and the other residents can't park in their own street due to the commuters. I used to love having to park in another street then having to lug my kids and all my shopping home. I especially love people dumping their old cars in our street, and us having to wait up to a year for the tax to run out so the council will move it. Yes I'd rather you pay your parking fees. I'm afraid that us residents really hate people like you

What gives you a greater right to park there than anyone else? The fact that you have kids? I hate to break it to you, but your lifestyle choices don't actually increase your entitlement to things like this. As someone said earlier - should have bought a car with a drive. If you're that concerned, lobby your local council for a Resident Parking Zone - which WILL afford you the right to park in the area if you're displaying your permit. Of course it comes with downsides - you'll have to pay (possibly quite a lot) and your neighbours will then hate YOU for being the one to kick up a fuss, oh, and after all that you might find that one of your neighbours parks in the space right outside your house instead...

OP - absolutely nothing wrong with what you're doing - legally OR morally. If anyone challenges me about parking on the street I always make sure I get a pic on my phone of both them and the house they live in, AND make a note of the conversation, so that if there are issues with vandalism later I have at least a starting point to take action from. Advising them that this will be the outcome generally ensures that I return to a car in precisely the state I left it.

EssexHebridean

ButterflyLC wrote: »

This one is a bit difficult for me. On one hand I do agree that it is a public road and as such, you have as much right as anyone to park there. However, it depends on the type of estate. The one I live in is next to a school and a few businesses, and even with their free car parks, they choose to avoid the traffic on the main road and park in our estate. There are private residents parking signs everywhere and the streets are pretty narrow with no actual pavement to park next to. There is a kerb and then just grass. The problem for me is that I pay fees over and above my council tax for the upkeep of the roads, pavements and grass verges. Is it morally right that someone should be able to park on a narrow street, most of the time parked up on the grass to get more cars in to pick the kids up, blocking one of only two exits for residents, just to save a few minutes considering we pay for any damage caused?

Totally different scenario to the "dilemma" posted then?

wenceslas51 wrote: »

Why are people not using public transport?Most of the free parkers are the only occupants of the car. By all means park where you like,but why not take the bus or carshare?

I carshare with my OH when possible but as his working hours and mine are rather different, this can lead to me having a wait of anything up to 2 hours from the time I finish work for him to get back to me (he uses public transport for the onward part of his journey into the city). As for the reason I don't use public transport all the way - a mile walk, plus 40 minutes on a bus, plus 40 minutes on the tube would cost me in the region of £10 a day - my 19 mile each way car commute costs me no more than £5 per day.

Norman_Castle wrote: »

If you resent paying to park why did you choose a job which involves £8 per day parking as part of your commute?

The job doesn't involve that does it - the poster had already said that there is street parking nearby as an alternative?

Greveson

This forum has a strange moral compass. You'll call somebody a thief for not informing a company that mistakenly sent them and extra product costing a few quid, but somebody forcing others to park away from their house just so they can save a couple of quid a day is completely fine.

asdesigned

The argument that it's a public street so i'll park where I want is sometimes understandable, but it is also wise to consider the residents. I used to live a few streets from the beach and it was a lovely location....except in the summer it was impossible to park within a couple of miles of your own flat. I know the tourists had as much right to park as me but it really gets you down day after day. All the people's attitudes on here of i'll park where I like, or buy a house with a drive etc really haven't experienced how frustrating it can be, especially when it is not 1 or 2 cars but thousands every day because people are too stingy to pay for the multiple car parks designed to accommodate them. Actually often it wasn't the cars parked sensibly that was the biggest problem, it is the i'll dump it where I like attitude that really frustrated. So while the residents should buy somewhere with a drive, why not move closer to where you work? If you regularly commute then why not rent somebodies space for a cheaper price so that you both benefit? Can't afford too? Well then maybe not everyone can afford a house with a drive.

ButterflyLC

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Totally different scenario to the "dilemma" posted then?

Not necessarily. There's not enough information in the dilemma to form proper judgement. We don't know whether or not this is a private estate or a just a bog standard street with houses on it. This is just my experience which is why I said it depends on the street/estate being parked in. People are saying it's your own fault for buying a house without a drive etc I have but people still park there inconsiderately blocking roads. And the school was built after I moved in. I just put my experience out there as it is not a black and white issue. As ever, we need more information.

SeduLOUs

Greveson wrote: »

This forum has a strange moral compass. You'll call somebody a thief for not informing a company that mistakenly sent them and extra product costing a few quid, but somebody forcing others to park away from their house just so they can save a couple of quid a day is completely fine.

Keeping items that have been mistakenly posted to you (if not unsolicited) is theft. There is nothing illegal about parking on an unmarked public road.

Magcar

My street is used by local hospital workers and visitors who refuse to pay hospital parking charges. They restrict access to drives, block clear views, restrict access to large vehicles, park on pavements and ruin grass verges. I even had a woman in labour park across our drive while she went off to have her baby!!! The police are told but rarely get round to tackling the problem and we have been requesting parking time restrictions from the council for three years. It's a nightmare............