Someone blocking your driveway - would it bother you

[UCLABelle]

Our neighbor does it all the time, and EVERY time I have the same reaction...then walk up his porch, ring his bell (sometimes, this is at 3AM...DON''T ASK!) and kindly ask that he respect others.

 

[CJ2008]

Wow - I hit a nerve with this thread! Thanks guys for all your comments.

MC - I''d say I''m easily annoyed too. Again, not so much at what someone''s DOING sometimes but at their lack of AWARENESS. Had they simply said "hi, are we in your way?" it would have made me feel better. It wouldn''t take away the annoyance that they did it in the first place but would put me at ease that it is an isolated incident and that they''re not disrespectful in general.

My community is VERY quiet, hardly any cars, no parking problems...so it really was more about me just being surprised someone was blocking my driveway and annoyed that they did it.

Barcelona - yeah, that''s an option too, just to make the point...

luvmyhalo - absolutely...if would have only taken them only a minute to move the car, but if I was having a true emergency I would be mad that I have to deal with the additional stress of having to wait that minute for them to move the car.

DH didn''t agree with me on this one - he thinks more along Haven and heraanderson''s lines...I didn''t know how long they had been there (so maybe it was just a couple of minutes), they were right there, they could have easily moved the car, and they probably had a REASON why they did it (the people in the driveway next door were all checking out a car, so he thought maybe the car didn''t start and they were going to need to maneuver the car out somehow, etc.) . He feels that if it was him, and he needed to block someone''s driveway he would think the person was a "certain way" for wanting him to move the car "just because". HOWEVER - This from a man who thinks it''s RUDE to go into someone''s driveway to make K turn!

So I''m not sure that I believe that he would do this w/o thinking - plus, he''s a nice guy - if the owner came out of the house I think he would approach them and tell them WHY he was there and that he''d be out of their way shortly.

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 7/15/2009 11:29:01 PM
Author: D&T

Date: 7/15/2009 11:15:41 PM
Author: KimberlyH
Thanks for taking my question as intended and answering. I understand the convenience, but my husband would say I spend all of my time in public ensuring I''m never in anyones'' way so I would never have the guts to park where it was easier for me or do anything that might interfere with another persons'' path, just in case I made life more difficult for someone else. I appreciate your honesty, even if it''s not something I think is okay to do.

Edited to respond to your ETA: Neither my parents nor I live there anymore, so people are now parking in someone else''s driveway. The school was notified, it didn''t stop the parents. I teach, and in my district all of the schools have safety patrols set up that monitor the school and surrounding entrance streets and I''m sure they are told to ask parents to move cars if they are parked illegally. I bet homeowners really appreciate it, and I certainly don''t think living by a school should mean a person needs to ask the school to request parents not block peoples'' driveways, it should just be something that people don''t do, because they wouldn''t like for it to be done to them.

no worries. I know its wrong, and I''m usually a better person than what I''m portraying but I can''t be perfect every time. I will probably be the only one to admit it here

with the parking no no and yep, i''m gonna get slack from it, but don''t lynch me.

and I do agree with the highlighted, but it happens, if it happens frequently like yours then something should be done like the monitors and notes to parents, it probably won''t solve it 100% but at least parents are aware that while it may not bother them, it does bother other people.

I don''t mean to lynch you, as I said I really appreciate your honesty! Another perspective is always a good thing. We all take shortcuts sometimes that others would find horribly annoying!

 

[Barcelona]

Date: 7/16/2009 12:45:33 AM
Author: UCLABelle
Our neighbor does it all the time, and EVERY time I have the same reaction...then walk up his porch, ring his bell (sometimes, this is at 3AM...DON''T ASK!) and kindly ask that he respect others.

You are my hero! I would be terrified to do that!

 

[D&T]

Date: 7/16/2009 9:42:37 AM
Author: KimberlyH
I don''t mean to lynch you, as I said I really appreciate your honesty! Another perspective is always a good thing. We all take shortcuts sometimes that others would find horribly annoying!

agreed. I meant to put one of these ---->

at the end of "lynch me" as not to be taken seriously and I appreciate you not attacking me for my shortcuts - much appreciated.

 

[LilyKat]

If it was a one-off (or occasional thing) and they didn''t actually leave the car and go off, it wouldn''t bother me in the least. I can''t see how it would affect me. If I needed to get out, I''d just ask.

However, if someone routinely blocked me in and walked off, then yes, I would most certainly be having a polite word with them.

 

[risingsun]

We had new neighbors move in. It was the same day as a major university graduation. Since we live near the uni, people park on the streets for the event. Normally, very few cars park on the streets in our neighborhood. You need to have a sticker or a guest pass. We don''t park in front of each other''s houses, unless it involves a short term event, party, etc. A pickup truck was blocking our driveway. The graduation traffic came and went. After several hours of this, I called my husband on my cell and walked outside to look at the truck. A guy came running and said he would move it. He said he was helping the neighbors move in. I said that he was blocking the driveway. He must have thought I was on the phone to the police or I don''t think that truck would have moved anywhere. Then the neighbor''s friends started parking in front of our house. DH went over for a little chat. Now they are parking in front of the neighbor''s house. If there was no room in front of their house, I could understand, but to park where ever you please...not OK. Thanks for the chance to vent. I feel better now

 

[Lilac]

If I just saw the car parked there with people near it to move it if I needed them to, I don''t think it would bother me.

I would only be annoyed if the car were parked there and left with nobody to move it if I needed them to. Or I would be annoyed if I asked them to move and they didn''t.

 

[phoenixgirl]

I really can''t think of anything that bothers me more than people choosing to inconvenience strangers, and one example would be parking in front of their driveways, which is always illegal. I would never think, oh, I''ll just break the law, block them in, and let them complain if they don''t like it. That''s the logic that our lazy janitor uses at the school where I work. He chooses not to do most aspects of his job and then acts as though it''s our fault for not requesting each and every time we want the trash can emptied, chalk tray cleaned, floor vacuumed, etc. And some of my coworkers just go along with it and ask when their rooms get dirty. He and I don''t get along, but at least he knows that if he doesn''t do his job *without* my having to ask, I will complain, and not to him! As a result, my room is cleaner than the others and I don''t have to demean myself by requesting that somebody else do his job. Argh, but the nerve, to decide that you can just do the wrong thing and make the person you are letting down by your choice responsible for correcting it . . . that''s just not how I operate and that''s not the lesson I want to teach my children. You do the right thing for its own sake, not because somebody complained when you didn''t.


I don''t think you have any legal right to complain about people parking on public streets in front of your house, though. Maybe they are parking there because it''s shadier or because they drove in that way. That one seems nitpicky to me and much different than somebody illegally blocking access to a driveway.


The elementary school I attended always has a long line of SUVs picking up kids these days. I don''t remember anyone whose parents picked them up from school. We all walked or took the bus. Why the change? We had a fair number of stay at home moms, so it wasn''t that there was nobody to pick us up, just that the norm was to walk. Walking home with friends was good exercise and always led to more socializing/activity because you''d make plans to ride your bikes or play basketball together later. I want to teach my children that if they can walk somewhere, they should. It''s better for the environment and better for their bodies.

 

[zoebartlett]

It would bug me too, even if I didn''t have to go anywhere.

 

[somethingshiny]

I have a neighbor who likes to park their RV illegally butting up against my driveway. It bugs the crap out of me! I have to be extra careful not to bump them and have ended up causing a groove in my yard where my tires go off the driveway to avoid them. I can hardly see around the vehicle and usually just take my chances backing out. We''ve said things to them and the cops. The cops must know them because it will move for a day or two and then come right back. That is the downside to small town living, whoever knows the law enforcement better gets the perks.