A woman is embroiled in a war with her neighbour after he accused her of blocking his driveway, but she refuses to move her car for one reason that many people actually agree with.
Background of the Dispute
Discovering someone has blocked your driveway can be infuriating. If you are fortunate enough to own a drive, you never need to worry about hunting for a roadside parking spot near your property while competing with every other motorist trying to do the same. However, there is always a risk that you will step outside one morning to discover you are stuck because a vehicle has parked across your dropped kerb.
Parking across a dropped kerb is against the law, and motorists who do so could receive a Penalty Charge Notice, plus a visit from officers if their parking has stopped someone from leaving their property. However, one woman on social media who was recently accused of blocking a neighbour's driveway has insisted she will not be taking any steps to shift the vehicle in question, as she believes she has done nothing wrong — and the internet is backing her up.
The Woman's Side of the Story
The woman, named Emma, shared on TikTok that she has just moved into a new property, and her new neighbours have already branded her a "scumbag", all due to how a vehicle belonging to "someone she knows" was parked. Recording the parking scenario outside her window, Emma revealed the car stationed slightly further along the road from her own home. She went on to explain that the neighbours taking issue with her parking actually live on the opposite side of the road, claiming the car is blocking their driveway.
There is just one problem — the vehicle is parked on the other side of the road from their home, and there are no houses directly in front of where it has been left. Emma said: "This neighbour is saying he can't get off his drive. He has claimed he can't get his car out and that it's an offence to block his drive, but obviously, we're not blocking his drive. He called us scumbags, and he said, 'Park it there again and watch what happens'. I'm being calm now, but as you can imagine, there was a point where I lost it."
Emma added that the neighbour had "taken pictures of our house", and she contacted the police via the non-emergency 101 number, though she stopped short of revealing what came of the report.
Public Reaction
In the comments section, people rallied firmly behind Emma, joking that even a bus would have little difficulty reversing out of the neighbour's driveway without coming anywhere near the parked car on the far side of the wide road. One commenter quipped: "I hate reversing, and even I could get out of there." Another added: "You could get a bus out of there." A third remarked: "If he can't get his car out in that space, he should hand his licence back."
Legal Perspective
Although parking directly over a dropped kerb is against the law, parking on the opposite side of the road to one is perfectly legal, provided there are no yellow lines restricting access. From Emma's video, there do not appear to be any yellow lines preventing motorists from parking opposite her neighbour's driveway, meaning the car and its driver are not actually breaking any laws by doing so.
