Unfortunately, inconsiderate parking isn’t a rare occurrence, and rows can flare up when someone has the courage to challenge another person’s actions that they consider ‘wrong’.
A woman was taken aback when she found herself in a disagreement with a man who had parked across her driveway, insisting it was his “right” to park there while picking up his child from school.
She revealed that she lives near a school, but none of her children are pupils there. When they moved into their home, the school had a maximum of “maximum 20 pupils,” but it has since grown significantly.
The woman also pointed out that the area is “very rural, and there are zero public transport options”.
She added some context, stating that off-street parking is available and there is a large car park. It would only take parents and children an additional 10 to 15 seconds to walk from this car park to the school gates, she wrote on Mumsnet.
She then expressed her main concern, fuming: “Why do school parents believe it is their sacred right to park however and wherever they like?! I won’t delve into how dangerous the road is being made by the absurd quality and levels of parking, etc, but to my personal gripe – inconsiderate and disrespectful parking over driveways.
“It’s a constant issue that no one wants to take responsibility for or deal with. There are only around 12 houses outside the school, but we’re all subservient to the parents who decide it’s perfectly reasonable to deny people access in and out of their properties.
“What I’m completely and utterly baffled by further is, when you calmly and diplomatically try to reason/ ‘challenge’ these people (for want of a better word), they don’t own up to their inconsideration and move on; they want to stand and argue and get nasty. I’ve given up to a degree because it actually puts my family and home at risk just to ask people to move on.”
However, she then explained that she’d butted heads with someone and was rudely told to “shut the f**k up,” and was even called “discriminatory names”. “Yes, I walked to the end of my drive; I then stood inside my drive behind closed gates and just wanted to ask the person to move on – but the abuse I got,” she recalled.
The woman then shared that her husband was “annoyed” with her because he thought they’d now “play games” parking there, but she didn’t understand why she should have to put up with it any longer.
In the comments, someone wrote: “Abusive f**kers who stand giving you s**t need to get in the bin. I would park across my own drive every school run time to confound them. Or obstruct it in some other way. Petty, but at least they wouldn’t be doing it anymore.”
Another agreed, saying: “You’re not being unreasonable, and I say this as a parent who drives to school (it would be a 50 minute walk otherwise).
“I had great respect recently for a homeowner who blocked the entire road as someone had blocked her drive, so she literally stopped the car on the road and waited for them to return. The road was blocked all the way down a hill, parents were getting cross as they couldn’t drive on and park themselves.
“The parent eventually came back, and all the other drivers absolutely let rip at her for making everyone else late, etc..she got in and drove off very quickly. Give the homeowner her dues; no one has ever parked outside her house again! I loved the guts she had to do it, as she did take a lot of s**t from other drivers.”
A Mumsnet user fumed: “No one has the right to park across your driveway. As for the verbal abuse – next time, film it on your phone and report it to the police”.