Dropped kerb

AdrianC

lemondrops69 said:

custardy said:

You have no right of access to your drive. Being blocked from leaving is a different matter.
So be careful telling people they cant park there or you may find a car parked there permanently.

Are you sure? Can you point to anything that states 'You have no right of access to your drive'. 

Highway code rule 243
DO NOT stop or park

• near a school entrance
• anywhere you would prevent access for Emergency Services
• at or near a bus or tram stop or taxi rank
• on the approach to a level crossing/tramway crossing
• opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction, except in an authorised parking space
• near the brow of a hill or hump bridge
• opposite a traffic island or (if this would cause an obstruction) another parked vehicle
• where you would force other traffic to enter a tram lane
• where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles
• in front of an entrance to a property
• on a bend
• where you would obstruct cyclists’ use of cycle facilities except when forced to do so by stationary traffic.

That's guidance, not a rule.

Blocking vehicles from ENTERING a driveway is not obstruction of the highway.
Blocking them from LEAVING the driveway is obstructing them from the highway.
It's that obstruction which is illegal.

custardy

and even if we agree its enforceable. Who is enforcing someone parking in front of a drive in a residential street?
I know of one guy getting their car impounded after parking over a 'dropped kerb' (though debatable on the image) to a utility sub station in the town centre here.


However good luck getting enforcement at your home.

AdrianC

custardy said:

and even if we agree its enforceable. Who is enforcing someone parking in front of a drive in a residential street?
I know of one guy getting their car impounded after parking over a 'dropped kerb' (though debatable on the image) to a utility sub station in the town centre here.

However good luck getting enforcement at your home.

I rather suspect the key in that image is the yellow line...

JamoLew

That single yellow line may be the reason it was towed if the car wasnt parked in accordance etc etc

TooManyPoints

My local authority is more than helpful when it comes to the enforcement of dropped kerb obstruction. Here's s snip from their website on the matter. Note there is no distinction between properties that have a vehicle on the front lot and those that don't. In my own particular road there was a spell where a number of householders had access to their property restricted by inconsiderate parking and the LA blltzed the road for a week, which saw an end to most of it.

lemondrops69

AdrianC said:

lemondrops69 said:

custardy said:

You have no right of access to your drive. Being blocked from leaving is a different matter.
So be careful telling people they cant park there or you may find a car parked there permanently.

Are you sure? Can you point to anything that states 'You have no right of access to your drive'. 

Highway code rule 243
DO NOT stop or park

• near a school entrance
• anywhere you would prevent access for Emergency Services
• at or near a bus or tram stop or taxi rank
• on the approach to a level crossing/tramway crossing
• opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction, except in an authorised parking space
• near the brow of a hill or hump bridge
• opposite a traffic island or (if this would cause an obstruction) another parked vehicle
• where you would force other traffic to enter a tram lane
• where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles
• in front of an entrance to a property
• on a bend
• where you would obstruct cyclists’ use of cycle facilities except when forced to do so by stationary traffic.

That's guidance, not a rule.

Blocking vehicles from ENTERING a driveway is not obstruction of the highway.
Blocking them from LEAVING the driveway is obstructing them from the highway.
It's that obstruction which is illegal.

Yes ok, but where does it state in law what you've said?
TMP's posts shows at least their council sees it as one offense and makes no distinction regarding entering or leaving 

Kaoslisa

Manxman_in_exile said:

custardy said:

You have no right of access to your drive. Being blocked from leaving is a different matter.
So be careful telling people they cant park there or you may find a car parked there permanently.

custardy said:

daveyjp said:

custardy said:

You have no right of access to your drive. Being blocked from leaving is a different matter.
So be careful telling people they cant park there or you may find a car parked there permanently.

Except parking across a dropped kerb is one place you shouldn't park as it is provided for more than just the driveway it serves.

Shouldnt or legally cant, are two different things

Whilst it is correct to say that you have no right of access to your drive and that people can generally park where they like, so long as the dropped kerb was authorised by the council, then people cannot park across that bit of the kerb dropped to road level, although it is OK to park next to the sloping part of the dropped kerb.

The OP should check the position with the council - who should agree that you can't park there - and pass that information onto their neighbour if they continue to park there.  And if it still continues, ask the local council to enforce it - assuming the OP is happy to start a neighbour conflict.

The important thing is that the OP determines whether the DK was authorised properly.  I'm not sure exactly what the OP means by "signed off by the council".  Was it correctly approved and authorised - is all the paperwork in order?

It was all authorised by the council, they came out before the work was done as there is a lamppost to one side of the drive and they advised I couldn’t extend the drive that way as you need to keep the wall behind the lamppost.

They also came out during the work and then to sign it all off as completed and acceptable.

I made sure I went through all the correct processes and paid the correct fees hence why I asked the question as I don’t feel like I have done anything wrong so didn’t deserve the abuse I got just for asking someone to move their car.

Also just for clarification, both cars were parked on the drive when he parked over the driveway so he was blocking us from getting out of the driveway.

teachfast

TooManyPoints said:

My local authority is more than helpful when it comes to the enforcement of dropped kerb obstruction. Here's s snip from their website on the matter. Note there is no distinction between properties that have a vehicle on the front lot and those that don't. In my own particular road there was a spell where a number of householders had access to their property restricted by inconsiderate parking and the LA blltzed the road for a week, which saw an end to most of it.

That's absolutely brilliant! 

custardy

AdrianC said:

custardy said:

and even if we agree its enforceable. Who is enforcing someone parking in front of a drive in a residential street?
I know of one guy getting their car impounded after parking over a 'dropped kerb' (though debatable on the image) to a utility sub station in the town centre here.

However good luck getting enforcement at your home.

I rather suspect the key in that image is the yellow line...

Was a dark Saturday night (quite a few years ago) but IIRC it related to access to the sub station.

Aretnap

custardy said:

and even if we agree its enforceable. Who is enforcing someone parking in front of a drive in a residential street?

Many councils will be reasonably reactive if they get a complaint from the resident - the £60 (or whatever it is these days) penalty charge makes it worth sending a CEO a few blocks out of his way to put a ticket on the car.

They don't typically enforce it without a complaint from the resident because the law includes an exception which allows you to block your own driveway, so a CEO randomly patrolling a street won't know whether the car is legally parked or not.