Topic: White line parking question

[asbean]

We go through this twice daily, as we have a popular primary school near us, and the mums bring their little darlings by car (4x4 or peep carrier) from two streets away to park, and then walk them round the corner.

Some time ago I had a friend visiting, and we watched as a mum parked so close to his car that her car was touching his bumper.  So I filmed it with my phone.  She saw me doing this, so got into the car and moved it back a couple of feet so it was then blocking my opposite neighbour's drive.  So I took another picture.

About 20 minutes later the front door bell rang and she was on my doorstep - shaking with rage (I thought she was going to explode or hit me) - screaming abuse at me for filming her and how illegal it was to take pictures of people without their permission blah blah blah.  She then took a photo with her phone of the number plate of my friend's car which scared the hell out of him!  I never saw her again!!!

Squash, your neighbour's drive is no problem at all - there's a house near here with a tree blocking a drive more than that car!!

 >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

[Sparkly]

Parking infront of someone's drive is a no-no whether there is a line there or not. Blocking access isn't fair. This is a different situation, but similar problem. At work we have some 'double parking bay'. This buddy system is only meant to be used by people who know each other so, if there was an emergency you could get out. Anyway one day the carpark was full so I parked at the back of a buddy bay. One of the other science staff parked behind me so that was okay and we had an open evening going on till 8.30 anyway. At the end of the open evening I went outside to find someone else (no idea who) had parked behind me. Bearing in mind this was 8.30 at night and I had been there since 7.30 in the morning. There was noway I could have got out as the places either side of me were taken. This person was nowhere to be seen. There is a 5-a-side football pitch very close and so I went in there and asked them to read the number plate out on the tannoy.  That was the most likely scenario. But, they couldn't do that as they didn't have one  ::) I waited for an hour (getting more and more annoyed). I got out an hour later when someone else in the space to the right on me returned and I was able to do a ridiculous maneuver to get out. How someone can think it is okay to block someone's exit and then go off and enjoy themselves all evening I have no idea! They were lucky I didn't 'bump' the car out of the way.

[debster]

my friend was a paraplegic, outside her house the council had painted a white box which said disabled on it, they were however told by the same council that as it was white and not yello it was only advisory not enforcable  ::)

[nilly71]

As part of my job, i control the radio's for our parking attendents. I had the same query about parking over your own drive. The answer from the people in charge was... no, you can not be prosecuted for parking over your own drive. Though you might get a ticket if a mean neighbour phones up and pretends your parked over their drive ;D

If anyone parks over your drive, phone up your local council and ask for a parking attendant to attened.

Squash
I think you would of got a fine if a parking attendant was asked to attened by the lady in question.

Neil

Well it sort-of helped.  But from what I understood of it, someone could be prosecuted for parking across their own dropped kerb.  :o

[lorna]

debster to think anyone would park in a disabled spot, yellow or white lines is beyond belief. My late husband was in a wheelchair and when I asked a person to move he replied "Plenty of other spaces"  obviously the idiot didn't know disabled spaces are wider to enable people to maneuver wheelchairs more easily (and to avoid damaging other people's vehicles with wide open doors.)

[Squash64]

Thanks everyone for all the replies.

I just want to make it clear that I would never block anyone in their drive, or anywhere else for that matter.  I thought I had left plenty of room for this woman to get her car out. 
Looks as though I was in the wrong though  :(  Never mind, we live and learn.

[Squash64]

Another problem -
If I had moved my car a foot or two forward and the wheel had been to the left of the line, would that still have been an obstruction?

The reason I'm asking is because my husband parked in the road next door to the White Line Woman today. His tyres were outside of the line but the back part of the car overhung the line.  I'm sure she sits behind her net curtains all day waiting for someone to park and she came flying out of the house and started being abusive to him.  He is Italian and gets excited easily  :-[ so I'm afraid they had a bit of an arguement.

She said that no part of the car should be over the line.  My husband said that so long as the tyres were not over the line it was ok.

I'm almost losing the will to live, but who is right in this case?

[OllieC]

I think if any part is over it's technically wrong - the whole vehicle is to be within the allocated space as the wheelbase is nothing to do with the flow of traffic!

[landimad]

All,
The law states that nobody shall park across a persons drive if cars are on the drive.
It is illegal to prevent anyone gaining access to the road, but if there are no cars in the drive then you can park there as no crime is committed by blocking a drive with no vehicles there. Thus preventing any movement onto the road.
It has been shown to me by the police that a person blocking another in and preventing a person from accessing the road can be fined under the road traffic act.
Better not to park over a dropped kerbage rather than getting a fine.
White lines are not a prevention of parking rather a courtesy, asking drivers not to block a driveway.
Yellow and red(London) lines are there to prevent stopping and parking.
White are there for not blocking  entrances or hindering wheel chair use.

[ceres]

I don't think that's correct landimad.  It's an offence to obstruct access over a dropped kerb whether there are cars on a driveway or not.  The white lines are advisory, you aren't given a penalty for parking on them.  You're given the penalty for causing an obstruction.  The relevant legislation is the Traffic Management Act 2004.

[landimad]

Thanks Ceres,
You put the right way of saying as always where my grammer is poor.