Um... No. You can't park blocking my driveway.

[RestaurantDude]

I woke up the other day to discover that there were a bunch of cars parked along the side of the road outside of my house. Normally not a problem, but, two of them were parked such that they were completely blocking my driveway! Now... I had shit to do! So, recognizing the vehicles as belonging to guests of one of my neighbors, i walked up and knocked on the appropriate door.

Me: Hi. I'm not sure who belongs to those cars, but...
N: Yeah, those are my friends.
Me: Oh, well... could you ask them to move them? They are parked across the end of my driveway, and i need to get out.
N: Ugh... Yeah, sure... Let me go wake them up. Be out in a minute. (i'll point out that this was around 10am)
Me: Thanks.


Seems reasonable enough, right? 5 minutes later, the cars are still there. 10 minutes go by, then 20, still no movement. A critical error has been made. RestaurantDude has been angered. An hour after my initial request, i am watching both cars heading down the street. ...On the back of a tow truck.


It isn't exactly as though my driveway is hard to miss. It isn't obscured by trees or anything. But, these two dillweeds parked in such a way as to make it impossible for a fart to escape my driveway, let alone a car!

I haven't heard from the neighbor yet, but, i'll keep you all posted on any developments.

[AccountingDrone]

I used to live at 8405 Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach. It is on the ocean side, but on the short stubby bit of the avenue nestled right up to Fort Story, and so not a through route for anybody without DOD stickers. The 'driveway' was the length of the property as the house was just over a car and a half set back from the road so the house owner just paved it and turned the 2 story house into a 2 unit duplex [upstairs and downstairs]

So since it was along the beach, people would park IN my drive, across my drive and occasionally pound on my door asking to use the bathroom.

I kept the towing company on autodial.

[RestaurantDude]

I bet the tow companies loved you

[Erin]

The first year that we lived at my old house, I had to call a towing company to have some cars removed from our driveway. We lived about 2 blocks from the high school where the State Track meet is held every year. People parked in our driveway, and across the end of our driveway.

No one ever asked if they could park there, they just did. No one ever came up to our door when the track meet ended for the day and their cars were missing.

For the other 14 years that we lived in that house, we made sure to park our cars at the end of the driveway (facing out, so that we could see to pull out)

We did have our driveway enlarged at one point, and that was the year people again tried to park in our driveway...luckily we were up that morning and were able to tell them they had to make other arrangements for their cars. (that was probably the year that we started to park our cars at the end of the driveway)

It's amazing how people assume that using someone's private property without asking is ok.

[Kogarashi]

The first year that we lived at my old house, I had to call a towing company to have some cars removed from our driveway. We lived about 2 blocks from the high school where the State Track meet is held every year. People parked in our driveway, and across the end of our driveway. -snip-

A friend of mine's family lives right across the street from the town fairgrounds, where a fairly large county fair is held every year (as well as 4th of July fireworks and other local events). Rather than put up with all the people parking in their driveway without asking, they actually put up a sign selling parking space in their back yard. They figured rather than fight with people for a week+ every year, they'd just make money off of them.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

When my now-husband was my fiance and lived downtown in the party district, having cars towed out of his driveway was practically a chore, like taking out the trash.

Who does that?

[Amina516]

ISo since it was along the beach, people would park IN my drive, across my drive and occasionally pound on my door asking to use the bathroom.

Oh my God...

I would ask "Are you serious?" but sadly I know you are.

Assfaces.

Restaurantdude, Did they ever come out and give you poo about their cars being gone?

[bhskittykatt]

A friend of mine's family lives right across the street from the town fairgrounds, where a fairly large county fair is held every year (as well as 4th of July fireworks and other local events). Rather than put up with all the people parking in their driveway without asking, they actually put up a sign selling parking space in their back yard. They figured rather than fight with people for a week+ every year, they'd just make money off of them.

I think everyone near fairgrounds does that. They do that here, and when we went to Oregon they did that as well.

Once I came out to find my neighbor's buddy double-parked behind me, and he moved it quickly (he was just dropping off my neighbor). I see all the double-parking that goes around our parking lot, though, and I know it's just a matter of time before I get some douche trying to leave his car parked behind mine overnight (and I leave for work at 3am!).

At my parent's old place, we always had trouble not with people parking in front of their driveway, but directly across the street from our drive. Because the road is so narrow there, that didn't leave enough room for us to pull out of our driveway. Two cars could barely pass each other as it was...if a car was parked across the street you could forget about swinging your car out as you back out.

[mikoyan29]

You asked them nicely. They were not nice in return. So I hope they enjoyed the $100+ fine for recovering their vehicles.

[AccountingDrone]

Oh my God...

I would ask "Are you serious?" but sadly I know you are.

Assfaces.

Something about being in a more or less recreation area or on vacation that seems to turn some people into jackasses.

[fireheart]

I was ready to do that today to someone's car. Except it wasn't in front of my house.

Moron parked RIIIIGHT in front of a bus stop. I have his plate and name so if he tries it again, tow truck time! (he goes to the school around the corner and therefore needs a parking permit for when he can get a park on the grounds. His permit was on the dashboard.)

[protege]

At my parent's old place, we always had trouble not with people parking in front of their driveway, but directly across the street from our drive. Because the road is so narrow there, that didn't leave enough room for us to pull out of our driveway. Two cars could barely pass each other as it was...if a car was parked across the street you could forget about swinging your car out as you back out.

Most of the time, getting out of my driveway is no problem, even if there's a car directly across the street. But, every now and then, you get some "special" person...who not only parks there, but a foot from the curb too! Seriously? Are you *trying* to get your car hit?

It's bad enough that my street is narrower than most of the other roads in the borough. It's also one-way. Doesn't stop people from parking on *both* sides of the street, and then complaining when their vehicles get either hit (usually because someone decides to do 90mph on a crowded street, or someone gets fed up with not being able to get into their driveway...and decides to "modify" the car with a bat! They're usually parked so close to the driveways, that we're all pretty much stranded until whatever event going on at the school is over.

In fact, we've actually thought about starting a petition to get the borough council to make the entire 'circle' (the street is a big loop that turns back on itself) only have parking on one side.

[RestaurantDude]

Restaurantdude, Did they ever come out and give you poo about their cars being gone?

After the offending vehicles were towed, i drove off to run some errands. When i came back, they were wandering up and down the street, trying to remember (through a fog of hangover (and possibly beer farts)) where they had parked. As i pulled up, to park in my driveway:

THEM: "Dude, have you seen our cars? I swear, they were, like, right here."
ME: "The two that were blocking my driveway?"
THEM: "Yeah... Those ones!"
ME: "Nope... Haven't seen 'em!" [pulled into & shut garage]
THEM: "Oh... Huh."

[Magpie]

When one of the local colleges opened a campus across the street from my parents' neighbourhood, the street got scary. I remember one morning when the school bus could barely make it though because people not only parked on both sides of the street, but did so around a curve. (It might have been winter too). Once the "no parking from 8-20" rule went in, you'd still get students every September looking to rent parking from someone in the neighbourhood. They, at least, were better than the students' parents who would ask the same.

The real kicker is that the street that the college is across is a major bus route. Major enough that they're in the process of replacing it with surface rail. And there's parking lots for transit all around the outskirts of the city, so even people who were commuting could easily have parked and bussed in.

Some time after the college closed that campus, one of the local longterm residents was asking around to see if people would object to parking being allowed again. Nothing wrong with that, but the letter that they sent out included a complaint about the fact that parking had been made illegal in the first place. Ummm... I know you've been living there long enough to remember when it was legal. Where you out of town for the first six months that the college was there? Or do you just not realise that if people are going to park on the street that they obviously are going to drive, and therefore being able to do so is something of a necessity?

I mean I can totally understand if that person doesn't own a car, and just wants street parking for guests. But even without a car you'd expect them to have noticed just how dangerous the roads were at the time. Street parking does no good if you can't get there safely.

[Sandman]

A friend of mine's family lives right across the street from the town fairgrounds, where a fairly large county fair is held every year (as well as 4th of July fireworks and other local events). Rather than put up with all the people parking in their driveway without asking, they actually put up a sign selling parking space in their back yard. They figured rather than fight with people for a week+ every year, they'd just make money off of them.

Actually... the big fall festival near where I live the property value has that benefit figured in.. some people with big yards can take the whole time off away from work and make MORE money that week than they would actually working.

They also pay for their property taxes that way as well.