the law on parking out side my house ?

[Marcaini]

My sons work van is parked on the road outside the house a neighbour has complained and called the police they came to the house and I explained to them that it is parked on the other side of the road because the majority of cars park on the other side of the road and when cars are parked on my side of the road they get smashed in to, he weighed up the situation and said it is fine park where it is, now some five days later the same traffic control officer called me at home and said if the neighbour has a accident trying to get out of his drive way my son my be prosecuted is this correct, it is not blocking anyone's driveway or on yellow lines or parked dangerously it the fact that its a transit van.

[joko]

are you sure its the same officer? ...or your neighbours pal...?

if you are not parked illegally i dont see how they can say this...if the neighbour has an accident it is their fault...if they have to shunt backwards and forward many times in order to get out then so be it...
as long as you leave space for him it seems odd

[dothawkes31]

If the neighbour is not able to see clearly both ways when he is trying to leave his drive because the van is in the way then it should be a concern. Move the van away from the neighbours access and put it somewhere else.

[OrcadianOil]

It's a subjective thing which can depend on the circumstances at the time because, technically, all vehicles parked on a public highway are causing an obstruction.

As regards road traffic legislationt, some of the relevant wording about road traffic accidents says as follows:
"If, owing to the presence of a vehicle on a road, an accident occurs......." Therefore, those words, i.e. "a vehicle on a road" could refer to your son's van which might then implicate him in the cause of the accident.

Hope this helps.

[dothawkes31]

That makes sense because the police will want to prevent any accident rather than do nothing and let it happen. Their role is to advise people and make them aware there may be concern.

[cassa333]

But surely if there are cars parked on the opposite side of the road they are just as much to blame as the van!!

Just out of interest does the neighbour reverse in or out of his drive?

[joko]

i understand that a van there is a pain, but you could say that about lots of cars,,,its always hard to see up the road when coming out of a drive or a a side road - surely the onus is on the driver to manouvre round it when safe...he knows its there so if he hits it...then its his fault, not the vans...it make be a pain but sure we cant all park for the benefit of one person in the street.

[northernmonkey]

Well this did suprise me as normally, anything worthy of attending takes anything upto 2 days before officers turn up when neighbour complains .....