Parking NEAR a dropped kerb. How close?

[unwashed potato!]

we have an issue with neighbours (pretty much most) will park near our dropped kerb, not right on it but near enough that it still causes an access issue, especially when reversing out the drive or onto as we have a small tree on the street the left side so getting in can be tight when they are reducing access from the right.

i know you can't park across a dropped kerb, but anyone know how far away from one you have to be?

ours is an issue as we're at the corner, so people are parking say 1 metre, often less, from the kerb.

the photo below shows it better. we've had it before when people are on the payment right outside our drive, but mostly they park about where the purple small flowers are to the right. now you can imagine a van/car sticking out from that line, it will reduce access to our drive without being on our dropped kerb



as some may remember i'm currently widening our drive and i'm concerned when i remove some of the small brick wall to the left to help widen the entrance, people will park even closer so defeating the point.

 

[PooKer]

Worth emailing your local highway agency and asking them and explain the situation.
I expect if you went the nice persons route and left notes on peoples cars you'd become that person...... no one really wants to go that route.

 

[unwashed potato!]

no one really wants to go that route.

exactly. and it's too many cars to knock on one neighbour to ask them to park further back. i'm thinking if there was a sign to put up on the fence to the right, and paint a white line however long out to help suggest people to park slightly further away.

have emailed them so will see what they say. i'm just curious more than anything how close someone can park do a dropped kurb. at what point is it considered a obstruction? If i widen my entrance, are they no longer obstructing and now can keep parking there

 

[Steampunk]

I think you're supposed to leave a metre, as that's where they will put the no parking lines over a drive that has them. However the taper (the sloped bit at the end) is where my council will count as being the start of the drive. If part of your car is an inch over, they can ticket you.

You probably need to check with your council to see how they enforce those rules, as someone parked on the bend can still be over your taper even if the long side of their car is on the bend. There must be some point where a car on the corner has it's front too close to, and over your drive.

You can usually pay to get a line put over your kerb. This will dissuade a lot of people, as most people don't know these are are only advisory. If it's a particular person, you can try some passive aggressive notes, but that gets old fast. If you get a few people ticketed, word gets around and things will be better, at least with regards to other neighbours who regularly block your drive. If anyone complains, just tell them they can't park there and "nuffin' to do with me mate, you need to talk to the council".

The other alternative is to get a honkin' big drive so that you can still get in and out regardless if people park on the ends, and if anyone really takes the mickey, they can get ticketed anyway.

 

[samcat]

DIY yellow lines.
https://www.promain.co.uk/line-marking-paint/road-line-marking-paint.html


Get a friend or two with a white van to turn up, wearing florescent jackets, pressure wash the road then put down some yellow lines.
Stick a proper 'no parking' sign up (readily available on ebay). Done.


Dont do that, very naughty!!!

 

[Maccapacca]

Is it a private or non adopted road? Doesn't look like a local authority specification. If it is the LA won't do a thing.

 

[singularity]

Judicious placement of the wheelie bins might help.

 

[BongoHunter]

I think you can ask the council for a line to be painted accross your access for a fee - ours does at least, I think it's £400 here

 

[Terminal_Boy]

Decent human beings wouldn’t park in front of the sloping sections on either side of the dropped kerb.

 

[Steampunk]

I think you can ask the council for a line to be painted accross your access for a fee - ours does at least, I think it's £400 here

Mine charges £135. Your council is ripping you off!

 

[BongoHunter]

Mine charges £135. Your council is ripping you off!

Yeah - London's a bitch for this kind of thing

 

[Steampunk]

Yeah - London's a bitch for this kind of thing

I live in west London!

 

[BongoHunter]

I live in west London!

I'm going to speak to council again then as I'm out west to! Gits

 

[LeeUK]

Decent human beings wouldn’t park in front of the sloping sections on either side of the dropped kerb.

You don't live where I live. Neighbours are quite happy to park in front of your drive even when there is a car on it but will go crazy if you do the same to them.

 

[samcat]

Get a set of four vehicle dollies:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Four-Vehicle-Positioning-Wheel-Dollies-450kg-per-Dolly/15017015459

On the flat you can move the car by yourself, if not flat then you do it with some friends. Move their car elsewhere.

 

[Resident]

DIY yellow lines.
https://www.promain.co.uk/line-marking-paint/road-line-marking-paint.html


Get a friend or two with a white van to turn up, wearing florescent jackets, pressure wash the road then put down some yellow lines.
Stick a proper 'no parking' sign up (readily available on ebay). Done.


Dont do that, very naughty!!!

One of my mum's neighbours did this then parked on the double yellows.

He got a ticket

 

[Kautya]

Get a set of four vehicle dollies:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Four-Vehicle-Positioning-Wheel-Dollies-450kg-per-Dolly/15017015459

On the flat you can move the car by yourself, if not flat then you do it with some friends. Move their car elsewhere.

Op might get charged with car theft in the process of moving the car. LOL

 

[samcat]

One of my mum's neighbours did this then parked on the double yellows.

He got a ticket

Wait, they parked on the double yellows they put down?!
What were they expecting to happen?

Permit Holders Only and a marked space is the route I would take if I wanted it to be 'my' parking space.

 

[Burned_Alive]

I would definitely move the wheelie bins to make parking there awkward. Getting a white line painted across the front of the drive sounds like a good idea.

 

[MrBukey]

A white line is pointless, and is for "information only" - it does not have to be observed.... As we found out when we moved into a house about a decade back...

There was a white line and a disabled sign painted outside the house used by the previous occupants. Contacted the local council, so they could get it removed. They told us that white lines are advisory/information only, and don't have to be observed, and to just ignore it as it would cost them too much to remove/burn it off but if it had been yellow or red, they would have done so.

Unfortunately if you've not got a vehicle on the driveway, I don't believe that parking across the dropped curb (if it's just for driveway access, which it looks like it is) is an offence. It's only illegal to block access to the highway which means stopping a vehicle leave the driveway, or to block a dropped curb intended for things like wheelchair/mobility scooter access. However, contact your local authority who will be able to advise.

On that note, some areas are also managed by the Police, and others by the local authority. Where I now live, it's managed by the Police and parking isn't decriminalised. They haven't got the resources to manage it. Everywhere else in the County it's managed by the County Council who use it as a revenue generating exercise. They have been arguing with the local Borough Council over who should take over enforcement for years, but both want to take control... And so it's gotten nowhere.