Parking etiquette outside your house? What would you do?

Edited: Poll added

Asking for a friend.

Not really. It's for myself.
A feud is brewing in our street and I thought I would come straight to the oracle (OzBargain Forums).
So new neighbours have moved in across the road but also one house over. (Corner block).

They have taken the park of our neighbour across the road, even though they have space for another car in their driveway and also a car space infront of their own house.

I thought the unwritten rule of parking infront of your own house if you had space comes into effect, but my partner reckons its free game to park wherever you want regardless of whose house it is..

So will I be vindicated or not?

Would you go up to the neighbour to stop people parking in front of your house if they had space infront of theirs?

Do I need to pee on their wheel to support my neighbour? I am hopeful the neighbours wife comes out tomorrow and lashes em, given its bin day and their car is infront of their bins as well 🤣

Poll Options

  • 534
    Yes it would annoy me
  • 178
    No, move on

Comments

      • Or wait until they go to the beach and park in front of your house until they come back. They'll have to park in their own spot then. I doubt they'll move it when the spot in front of your house becomes available.

  • +1

    I'm incredibly thankful that my neighbours all understand this "rule" and courtesy, without having the talk.

  • -3

    She sounds rather nasty. However, the road is free. You paid your rego, and insurance. You are legally allowed to park anywhere within the laws.
    I am in a similar situation where my preferred spot hinders the access of the guy directly across the road manoeuvring his large 4x4s into his driveway.
    You put the onus back upon them. "So why didn't you make your driveway bigger, when you had the opportunity to do so?… Hu, Hu, I don't hear ya!" as you poke their chest back into their driveway. 4x4's think they own the road, so poke them back at every opportunity. The govt has taught us to do so.

  • Unwritten rule is park in front of your own place, some people don’t like rules let alone neighbourly ones. In the end what can you do, these things happen

  • Need a poll.

  • -1

    Unfortunately, you can't do much about street parking situations like this.

    Personally, I would park in front of my own house so I can keep an eye on my car. I had a manager who would recommend snipping their tyre valves with some pliers just to make them think about parking their car so it's within sight in the future.

    • i wouldn't do that near my house with my kids. who knows if they may have a screw loose up there. i'd rather have an ugly car in front of my lawn than lose sleep at night!

  • +3

    As the saying goes, just because it isn't illegal, doesn't mean it is "right".

    But hey the pandemic has exposed enough how more selfish people really are …
    As a bargain site with constant broden'ing going on we joke about it but in the end quite prevalent and annoying behaviour.

    • +1

      Agree completely.
      The Pandemic has been eye opening about selfishness.

      • +2

        ♪ we're all in this together… except people who work in health, retail, teaching and hospitality. Those guys have to work during a pandemic.

        Also no pay raises for them. Ever.

  • +2

    not illegal, but it's etiquette. if there's no other spots i'd say it's fair game. if they choose specifically to park away from their house it's a bit annoying but not much you can do about it. why don't your friend park in front of their house to send a message

  • +1

    First I've heard of this unwritten rule. Pretty much impossible in most suburban streets to always ensure you're parking out front of your own place so seems like a silly "unwritten" rule to begin with. I sometimes have to park a hundred or so meters from my place, never thought anything of it, joys of city living.

  • +1

    Genuine question from a non-driver - what’s the issue with parking in front of someone else’s house?

    • +5

      People like to park in front of their own house for convenience and security.

    • +4

      While street parking is essentially free for all it is generally expected that the road parking outside the property is used as over-flow for the residents or for guests they have.
      Parking etiquette would dictate if you live on the street and have space outside your own residence, use this first.

      • Yeah that was what I grew up with, different story if you have exhausted most parks outside your house and need somewhere to park.

  • +2

    With modern medium and high density housing, some households with one onsite park might have 2-3 cars. It is impossible to follow the 'unwritten' rule. If you 100% must park in front of your house, pay extra for a property with parking. If you can't afford it, the street is council property so first come, first serve.

    • Not to mention apartment buildings that probably only have one car park per unit. I had to rent a unit a couple of years ago, and you were lucky to find street parking three streets away. What made it worse, I it was common to see people parking 45 degrees nose in (where it wasn't actually marked parking).

  • +4

    I rarely park in front of my house but on the rare occasion I do my neighbour that parks there daily gets really annoyed they have to park in front of their own house. One car was left in front of my house for a year. I checked and it was registered but it never moved.

    • +2

      If a car is left long term you can report it abandoned and the council (or cops maybe?) come and put an abandoned car sticker on it. If it still doesn't move by a certain date then they tow it away.

      • They'll do nothing if it has valid rego, especially if it's registered to an address in that street. Unless sign posted otherwise there is no time limit to street parking.

        • My flatmates car, with valid rego, got the sticker outside our own house, so you're wrong there.

          She hadn't driven it in months and one of the neighbor's must have reported it haha

          • @trapper: Was it in good condition? If it's unwashed, low tyres/bald tyres, they're more likley to follow up on it. If it's in good condition, less likely.

            I've found if they come out to inspect and see that it looks like someone drives it regularly, they may leave the sticker (probably not) and not bother anymore. If they get regular reports (ie angry neighbours claiming it's abandoned despite it being used) they'll probably have photos of the last position it was inspected in to compare and ignore further reports.

            Time allowance probably depends on council. My bother's car got stickered as he was waiting on a repair for it. Called the number on the sticker and they said "no problem".

        • +1

          Just looking this up now and believe it or not but your vehicle is generally considered abandoned if left in one location for only 24 hours!

          If reported they put the sticker on, and then you get another 24 hours to move it onto private land or it will be towed away.

          If you don't go and recover it within two months then they will sell it off by auction.

          Something to think about if your planning to leave you car on the street while on a long holiday. lol

  • -1

    or if it's parked far enough away from their house to be unseen -

    throw an egg on it, when they ask the neighbours if they saw anything say "those darn kids got me last year" …

    bin day, when the bin is emptied, put it back, touching their car

    pee is good (blame dogs)

    birds … go for the long-game, plant a tree on the medium strip so that birds can poop on his car in a few years time …

  • -1

    people only park where they think it is safe, too bad if there was a act of vandalism

  • It is bad form if someone chooses to park in front of your house if there is space outside of theirs. Otherwise, tough sh*t you don't own the space

    • Correct, surely use your space before you use others. I know, I know, I know its not our space. Its public but you get what I mean

  • I got the opposite problem. Everyone on our street parks in front of their homes. This causes a big problem as the builders were too cheap to allow for a road that can accommodate a parked car on either side. It barely fits two cars passing each other. So you get this issue when one guy parked in front of his house the other guy, instead of doing the right thing and parking a little bit forward to allow traffic to weave in and out on the street, parks in front of his place too.

    So you need to honk the horn and hope one of them will come out and move the car or as I am doing more these days, just drive up on the right/left side of the car on their grass to pass the blockage. Worst is when deliveries come and you have the woolies drivers scratching the sides of the cars as they try and get through.

    • Does the road have a centre-line? If so, there must be 3m from the edge of the parked car to that line otherwise it is not legal parallel parking.

      If there is no centre-line the 3m measurement is from edge of parked car to the opposite gutter. Obviously two cars on opposite sides of the road can comply with this but make the street impassable!

      • There is no centre line and only enough space for a car to pass a single parked car on the road. Everyone has driveways and garages but they park on the road for some reason.

    • That's a big issue in a new suburb development not far from us. Emergency vehicles have a lot of trouble getting through and when people started parking partly on the nature strip the council booked them.

  • can people actually park on the council lawn? between gutter and footpath.

    • +2

      No, it's illegal and you could be fined if you get a council warden or cop pass by or if someone complains (council will rush out to issue parking fines as it's easy money for them).

      • it ruins the grass and is fineable aswell as parking on a corner or block pedestrian access, depending where you are it's $300 plus

  • How about bins? In front of your own place? Anywhere on the street near your place?

    Asking for a family member where neighbours have started putting the bin out the front of my family's place

    For cars, common courtesy is nice for street parking, but at the end of the day it is a free for all.

  • +5

    One of two things going on:
    1. There's a good reason the neighbour parks there
    2. The neighbour is a dick

    Recommended action: Someone park in front of this neighbour's house for a while and see if they can figure out why they don't park there.

    Don't get your knickers in a twist about it, because it's not worth it. They're legally not doing anything wrong. No point feuding with the neighbours about parking one house down or across the road. Be thankful there is so much parking available in the street.

  • There's clearly a reason they're not parking out in front of their house or driveway. It's either to avoid a tree (droppings onto car from tree or bird shits) or they want shade.

  • Not sure if it applies here but if it is a corner house aren't they required to leave 10m before/after intersection?

  • If it’s a nice car, I wouldn’t care. If it’s a large loud truck that looks filthy, I would. Is the free driveway spot behind another car, if so that’s inconvenient.

  • +2

    Same shit here for my neighbour, they have 3 cars, double garage and 2 car spaces as the driveway but they never park in front of their house or on their driveway. In stead, they just park on my side. That blocks my vision when reversing my car out in the morning. Pretty annoying.

  • While it is common courtesy to park out the front of your own place, you dont have to.
    There could be a legitimate reason not to.

    Eg in one of my old houses that I shared with some housemates, we had three cars between us. Two fit in the driveway and one on the street. In the parking spot right out the front of the property there was also a tree there that the birds loved to roost and poop from. Any car parked in that spot would turn black, white and brown within a few days.

    We did have an issue with a few notes left on the housemates windshield and a (maybe/maybe not) accidentally smashed side mirror but it was eventually cleared up when he left his own note explaining the free paintjob that he didnt want done if he parked out the front of the house.

  • I almost got into a fistfight because of something like this when I was younger…it was brewing over several months….I was in the wrong for being so emotional about it (I could have lost a tooth, really not worth it)….

    I might be hard, but try to be friends with the neighbors…it becomes no longer annoying when a new friend parks in front of your house..

  • +1

    and also a car space infront of their own house.

    Yes it is free for all.
    But as in the animal kingdom the one that "pees" higher or growl the loudest gets more Alpha points.

    Go and park in front of their house.
    Routinely.
    Day after day, week after day.

    They will get the new mark for the peeing contest.

    Try it. It never fails.

  • +5

    I don’t mind people parking in front of mine, but when it’s time to mow and whipper snip it’s not my problem if they’re still there.

    • Perhaps OP could sprinkle a few rocks on the edge of his lawn and "allow" the whipper snipper to throw them at the car.

  • It's a free for all, though this is when consideration should come into play.

  • Yes it’s an unwritten rule but it is harder with more cars and higher density living these days. We park all our cars on our property so the spot outside is free. But the spot outside is a very small strip between two driveways. One neighbour parks there but moves super close to their own driveway so we have heaps of room to get in and out. Don’t mind at all as they are so respectful. Another neighbour when they park there, pay no care to how they park and often end up almost over our driveway at times and that pisses me off but they are trash and it’s not worth me engaging over it. You see people’s true colours on these small things.

    You have to pick your battles though, take a deep breath and let some shit go.

    In the UK some guy killed a couple over a parking dispute the other week!!!

  • Is there a nice tree right where they normally park? Time to feed the birds and make it a popular hang out. Perfectly legal too.

    • And start a new car wash business next door.

  • Bikies

  • I had a neighbour park their ute AND trailer (attached) right out the front of my house, for weeks. Nothing I could do.

    Then one day I noticed that he detached the trailer from his ute and drive off, and I thought, well that's just not acceptable, so I went and parked my car right in front of the trailer. Annoyingly, that trailer wasn't in any need of being moved so he didn't seem to care.

    Apparently you are not allowed to leave an unattached trailer out on the street, but before I got organised to complain, he disappeared.

  • Define "they have taken the park" - surely not perma?

  • +3

    People who park in front of other people's houses when they have room in their driveway or in front of their own homes are d**ks.

  • We lived in a selfish world, we just have to live with it

  • People seem to be mixing up actual parking rules and "unwritten rules", of course people can park anywhere.. but do you want to be that annoying neighbour parking in front of someone else's house?

  • My street ends in a court. I am two houses along rhe straight part. I have people who live in units at the end of the court CONSTANTLY parking in front of mine. The people in the court are allergic to parking along a curve.

  • -2

    I would be pissed off. I welcome the neighbours to have family and friends park in front of my house when ever they NEED it. But I don't want to look at some lazy bums shit heap out my front window for months on end. It did happen once so a friend (cough cough) threw some rusty nails in the gutter and got a cordless drill and drilled a little hole between the tire tread. Car didn't park there again. Even funnier if they persist , drill a hole in both tires on the gutter side and watch when they cant get their jack under the car as its about an inch off the ground. They will either never park there again , or always be checking for those bloody rusty nails that seem to appear from nowhere

  • +1

    They talked about this on the radio the other day.

    Most agreed with you that it's an unwritten rule but nothing can be done.

  • Don't mind people parking in front of mine as long as it doesn't get in the way of me reversing out, or unless we have multiple cars and need it ourselves. Otherwise if I don't need it, why would I care if others take it.

  • I bloody hate the neighbours’ parking in front of my house. They live on a corner block and have two frontages to park on and they don’t. They could also park across the road from their house where it’s just trees, and they don’t. They even park up on my grass. Mowing the gravel that somehow got on my lawn doesn’t get them to move their car, even with bits of it hitting their car. Talking to them multiple times doesn’t get them to move their cars. So then I piled up a faggot with some of the branches sticking out into the street and now they don’t park there. I’d rather look at that big pile of sticks than their cars.

    • +4

      You piled up a what?

  • +2

    Common courtesy is dead. Everyone is in it for themselves.

    I.e. no common good. Greed is king.. look at housing for instance. Or how people behave when they steal things. These days you can't even leave your stuff without fear of it disappearing.

    • Nah, just a few a-holes. Most people have mindfulness.

  • When the opportunity arises park one car either side of their car really close so they can’t get out.

    Make sure to dash cam the cars in question in case you end up with a few dings then you can take it to the police.

  • I understand street parking is for everyone and is shared. Though of they have room on their property and infront of their home, use it!!!!

    Only exception of the all road parking was unavailable and cars need to park Infront of your home, I couldn't care less.

    Why would anyone park further than they need to?

  • If you think it's ok to not use manners and be courteous to your neighbors then you are the problem. Don't complain when you are 80 and a kid robs you and breaks your hip..

  • So new neighbours have moved in across the road but also one house over. (Corner block).
    They have taken the park of our neighbour across the road, even though they have space for another car in their driveway and also a car space infront of their own house.

    What!? - Where's the MS-Paint diagram?

  • Apparently it's a dog eat dog hellscape in the city and the resident has no more parking rights over the spot outside their place than any of the other millions scrambling for a park. And people here get angry if you query that.

  • +1

    Solution is pretty simple if you have this problem. Buy a cheap small trailer and leave it in the spot indefinitely.

    Works a charm.

  • "even though they have space for another car in their driveway and also a car space infront of their own house. " —-Park in front of their house. problem solve

  • My neighbour parks his Hilux with its tow bar literally next to our driveway making entry/exit extremely difficult. He had metres to spare on the front end but because it's the last parking spot leading to a roundabout he didn't want the front of his car risk getting hit by a truck. It's annoying as hell but you learn to put up with it. Having bad neighbours doesn't mean you can't be a good neighbour.

  • I would absolutely be annoyed, but at the end of the day it is public space. All you can really do is explain that you already park in front of your house and hope they are decent people (given they have an empty spot in front of their own house).

  • I get the annoyance.

    It used to annoy me. But now all I ask is that people do not park alongside my bins on Sunday night, and that they don't obstruct half my driveway with their car.

    Unfortunately, people blocking my driveway is so common.

  • Just grab a can of yellow spray paint and spray a line on the road in front of the house. That'll put a stop to it AND cheaper than bikies.

  • I am genuinely surprised by the number of people who believe there is an 'unwritten' rule that dictates who can or cannot park in front of their house.

    More interestingly is the number of people who additionally believe that this unwritten rule overrides the written laws that allow registered vehicles to park in such locations if they do so legally. Then there is the expectation that all neighbours, including ones who have newly moved into the neighbourhood are expected to somehow be aware of this rule which, since it is unwritten, isn't available anywhere to refer to or check.

    While I would always park firstly on or in front of my property if spots are available, I also understand that I have no right or justification to get upset about others parking legally. Sounds like we have an awful lot of 'Karens' commenting who are just looking for something to complain about. What happened to the 'Australian' way of being friendly towards your neighbours and living happily together rather than harbouring some grudge about where they park? It wouldn't surprise me if the people posting about this unwritten rule don't have the courtesy to talk to their neighbours first before grumbling to random people on the Internet about where they park.

    If you have an issue about how your neighbours are parking, go have a chat with them. Bring them a beer / orange juice / Pepsi Max or home baked cake to break the ice and say 'hello'. Provide others the courtesy that you want to be applied to you.

    Overall its just a little sad that we have become so isolated from our neighbours that we feel it is more acceptable to harbour ill thoughts about them, complain to random strangers on an Internet forum all while not actually talking to and behaving towards our neighbours as we want to be treated ourselves.

    Chill out and be friendly. Say hello. If they do say they park in front our your house because they can, then that is fine too. Invite them around to your next BBQ, you are likely to find they will start caring about how you feel if you show similar respect to them.

    • +2

      Unwritten rules are like courtesy or social norms. There are many that think they shouldn't have to return the shopping trolley to an appropriate area after use, and that's a true test of character. Where there isn't any written laws to mandate that.

      • The key fact here is that there are written laws that expressly state who can and cannot park on a public road outside people's properties.

        There is no ambiguity here at all. There is no need for any unwritten rule, especially one which contradicts the law.

        What we have here is people who incorrectly believe the public road side parking in front of their home/property is reserved only for the vehicles they want parked there.

        • You sound like someone who perpetually misses the point

  • +1

    Common things like common courtesy and common sense are not so common these days.
    I live at the end of a close and one of my neighbours is also annoying the hell out of me. I only have the right side of my driveway where I can put out the bins and he always puts his bin there instead of putting it in front of this house, presumably because he has a spare car parked in front of his house. He's not even my neighbour next door, he is one house over so why the hell would you put your bin right next to my driveway!

  • I would be pranking the car

  • No one owns street parking, it's just more courteous and (obviously closer) to park outside your house.

  • +1

    Buy a rusty old trailer with a big tyre lock and put it in front of their house. That will teach them. 🤣🤣

  • +1

    This is an annoyance, and feel for them. I have a nieghbour that has upwards of 4-6 cars and they don't seem to use their garage. They park directly opposite my driveway, which on a small street (currently the primary access into the estate) means getting into and out of my driveway is a challenge. There is room to park in front of their own property, but rarely fully utilize that area.

  • +1

    100 entitled ozbargainers here

  • +1

    If there’s a spot free in front of their house maybe park your car there for the fun of it? Keep on doing it and maybe they’ll park there instead?

  • Same happens at my in-laws. Plenty of room in the street and in front of their house (3 street spots worth). Directly over will park a car in front of in-laws, who also have 3 street spots, and poorly aligned to driveway so it takes up extra space where you can't fit a car between driveway and rear of car. It's frustrating but legal. Also a topic of conversation when we all converge and that car is sitting there.

  • I do find it frustrating at times and what a lot of people dont take into account is it actually blocks the view when you are coming out of your driveway, even worse if there is elevation / hilly. Especially when people park their huge SUV / 4WDs and i am in a sedan, coming out of my driveway every day, i need to inch slowly and slowly out and i reverse park for this very reason. My ex used to front park (she wasnt good at reverse parking), a lot of times even though she would slowly inch her way out so that people driving on the street would see the car slowly inch out , at times she would still get beeped and yet there was no other way for her to come out and we could not see any cars on the road pretty much for the whole length of the road at times as further down the road due to the fences and cars parked on the kerb.

    At times i tended to park my sedan on the kerb just so she could see over it as it was just a sedan.

    Wasnt always an issue but i have noticed over time when i stopped parking on the kerb, now other neighbours are constantly parking in front of my house. There is a school down the road and a church, at those peak times, it is chaotic. There are cars double parked and triple parked. Cars parked in front of my drive way and blocking me leaving my house, its a mess and been a few accidents as the people dropping off their kids for school dont care about the residents and other people driving in the area, they just stop or do crazy U-turns etc to try to drop their kid as quickly and as close to the school as possible.

  • Legally and technically it is free game. Especially if you don't have a car yourself that you park in front of your house.

    If I parked my car there and the neighbours decided to do that then I'd be annoyed. But still can't do much about it really.

  • Defs piss on their car

  • Idea for a TV show. Take people triggered by carspaces and other absurd issues and send them back to 1880. See how they cope.

  • If I visit a friend or relative’s house I always park in front of their house if there’s a spot.

    Why would I park in front of the house next to them and have to walk further? That’s stupid.

  • Get them to buy a very large male dog with prostate issues.

    He can out piss you any day and it is marginally more socially acceptable.

  • +1

    I am hopeful the neighbours wife comes out tomorrow and lashes em

    Good ol' bankstown and sharia law.

    • +2

      You wouldnt stop in Bankstown or Lebcombe even if your car was on fire.

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