Parking in front of driveways

SaraSeahorse

probably not

you may in fact be doing something wrong by accessing / backing into this passage way / alley

Oody

SaraSeahorse wrote: »

probably not

you may in fact be doing something wrong by accessing / backing into this passage way / alley

While not a fully-fledged road, the alley is clearly intended for car use, given the garages along it and the drop kerb. How might this use be wrong, do you think? It's not as if I'm using a "residential" drop kerb to turn in a similar fashion, perhaps encroaching on to someone's drive. And this fella's surely guilty of obstruction - albeit lines of sight rather than physical blocking. Might have to dust off my Highway Code...

unrich

highway code is online and hopefully not too dusty. LINK.

I like these ones
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

Etc etc

Of course you have to get the authorities to enforce them.
And it helps to know which arm of the authorities is responsible.
And it helps if they have the correct powers authorised.
And it helps if they have enough people employed to do the job.
And it helps if they can be bothered.

In a petty manner, I resort to putting my own "documents enclosed" plastic envelopes on offending cars outside my home. I take a photo using a big big camera. I include a polite note stating what they are doing is not legal and is antisocial. And I state I will report them to the police if they do it again. One idiot, I also stated if they did park again near my home I would start legal proceedings for harassment. This approach and the bloke across the road who just lets down their tyres seems to work.

ajb69

smcaul wrote: »

We have exactly the same. Our neighbour has a drive, we do not, he has had lines painted on the road but they overlap the drop curb by well over a meter either side. I just ignore them and park right up to the dropped curb, the white lines mean absolutely nothing, they are for guidance only, it needs a Road Traffic Order for there to be parking restrictions. So the white lines have no standing in the road traffic act (I am lead to believe).

Hello there. For my sins, I once temped for the local council as a gopher in their road traffic department - I was only a teenager, so please don't judge me :eek:!

Anyway, I picked up a few things, and one of them was just as you say - lines on the road have no meaning or force at all unless a legal order is taken out by the council (no idea if it must always be the council, or if anyone else can do this).

The way to tell if an order has been taken out is to look for a sign on a post - that can only be put up once an order has been granted. I think it has to be next to the lines, and repeated every hundred yards or somesuch. You'll know what I mean - have a look at some double-yellow lines, and there'll be signs saying "no parking at any time" on the pavement next to them.

The interesting thing was - my council (and this is why I haven't identified them) was cheap. So it just painted the lines on the road, and often didn't bother with the legal order in most cases - it was too expensive. So no sign went up, and as a result, all they could do was send threatening letters to repeat transgressors and hope they didn't do it again. Worked most times, too - and they only went and got the order if the letters didn't work.

Couple of disclaimers - this only applies to adopted roads - if you are on private land / private road, then all the posts above about clamping / tresspass /etc apply. This was also ten-odd years ago now, so no doubt the law / coucil will have changed since then....

Hope this is of interest....it's not often I get to say that of my time there...:D

drew

cavycrazy_2

This thread has given me some great ideas - thanks! I have the misfortune to live next to a large field, which is a magnet for football practice, band practice, RC plane clubs, summer festivals.....you name it, they come in their cars and vans. The summer festivals/fairs are particularly fun, since the bigwigs cone off the official parking area for themselves and employ a man who stands directing visitors to park elsewhere - like outside our drive.

I am forever telling people they may park outside the small gate. but not the drive gates - do they listen? No. I had one charming chap park in front of the drive and I asked him to pull forward just a few feet as we needed to get out of the garage. He looked past me, into the garage, saw a bike in there and said "You'll be all right, just ride over your lawn and go out your little gate"!! :mad: He eventually and grudgingly pulled forward a few feet.

One arrogant little tosspot of a footballer was successfully cured of his parking habit when I decided to change the day I clean out the guinea pig cages. I dragged the bases down to the bottom of the drive and enthusiastically hosed them out. Bits of sawdust and hay and pig poop flew everywhere - by the time he came back to his car, the sun had baked it all over his paintwork.

I have recently been blocking persistent offenders in, and then when requested to move, have told them I have had a drink or don't have a full licence and they will have to wait for my husband to get out of the bath.

andyrules

ajb69 wrote: »

Hello there. For my sins, I once temped for the local council as a gopher in their road traffic department - I was only a teenager, so please don't judge me :eek:!

Anyway, I picked up a few things, and one of them was just as you say - lines on the road have no meaning or force at all unless a legal order is taken out by the council (no idea if it must always be the council, or if anyone else can do this).

The way to tell if an order has been taken out is to look for a sign on a post - that can only be put up once an order has been granted. I think it has to be next to the lines, and repeated every hundred yards or somesuch. You'll know what I mean - have a look at some double-yellow lines, and there'll be signs saying "no parking at any time" on the pavement next to them.

The interesting thing was - my council (and this is why I haven't identified them) was cheap. So it just painted the lines on the road, and often didn't bother with the legal order in most cases - it was too expensive. So no sign went up, and as a result, all they could do was send threatening letters to repeat transgressors and hope they didn't do it again. Worked most times, too - and they only went and got the order if the letters didn't work.

Couple of disclaimers - this only applies to adopted roads - if you are on private land / private road, then all the posts above about clamping / tresspass /etc apply. This was also ten-odd years ago now, so no doubt the law / coucil will have changed since then....

Hope this is of interest....it's not often I get to say that of my time there...:D

drew

Thank you for that - it's interesting and informative.

The reason why white lines are often extended beyond the dropped kerb is to allow the driver to pull out safely. If your vision is totally blocked that is obviously a hazard, worsened if the vehicle in question is a 4x4 or van.

bicycle_repair_man_2

highway code rule no 243 mentions parking where it would block property access, but it's preceded by "DO NOT" which means it isn't actually illegal, if it were illegal it would be preceded by "YOU MUST NOT" instead, this is why the police often aren't interested in these disputes.

MrsE_2

trisontana wrote: »

I didn't say every 4X4 driver did this, just that quite a few of them seem to do that.

You know, if you broke it down into %'s, you would probably find its the same prevalence in car drivers, or car drivers with red fiestas:rolleyes:

steps40

s1clark wrote: »

We specifically bought a house with a driveway because we didn't want street parking. Ever since we have lived here, people have continually parked in front of the driveway. What annoys me the most is there is a parking laybay outside the houses, so why do people continue to park in front of an open driveway, which is use frequently throughout the day. Then when you find the person, the abuse you get is unbelivable.

Parking infront of someones driveway ie across it (and across a dropped kerb )is an obstruction.
This matter is dealt with by the Police , if you call the non emergency police number and give them the registration , make model and color they can have the vehicle removed(however this is not a priority and will be dealt with when they have an officer free)

good luck

regularsaver1

Poppycat wrote: »

Found this on the net although its for Scotland not sure if it applies here

http://www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk/faqs/motoring/parking.htm

Someone has parked on the road outside my house and is blocking my driveway. I cannot get in or out. What can I do?

If the vehicle is causing an obstruction you should call us on xxxxxxxx and we will check whether the vehicle is stolen or not. If necessary we will send an officer.
Please note: In normal circumstances this is not an emergency and therefore it may take some time for the officer to attend. In the meantime, try to trace the owner of the vehicle by making local enquiries with your neighbours, etc.

this can happen - my dad accidently, parked about half a foot over the edge of a drive and got a phone call at 5am from the police saying they have received a complaint from the neighbour- got his details via dvla

but petty as they could have knocked the door and they were not leaving until few hours later and dad was gonna leave at 5.45 for work anyway

he has his own drive now, but its a shared one - that causes probs too