Yesterday, right before I left for work, an old beater car stopped in front of my house. The back bumper is barely hanging out over my driveway and it’s parked kinda far out into the street. A woman was sitting in it when I came out to go to work; she got out and told me it had died there & she couldn’t move it.
To get out of my driveway without hitting it, I had to back out at an angle, over the sidewalk. When I came home last night, the car was still there. It STILL is, and there has been no one back to see about it.
Almost 24 hours. How long do I wait before calling about it? It’s really a pain in the ass where it is, makes it very hard to get out of my driveway & see if there is coming traffic.
Call. A couple months ago I called about a car that was parked on my street- not near my driveway or anything, but it had been in the same spot for about 9 months. I was afraid it had been stolen and abandoned there, or something. The first thing the cop asked me was whether it was blocking my driveway. Is it locked? If not, you might be able to pop it out of gear and just roll it a bit.
This car was parked straddling the property line of two houses and the front bumper was falling off- it looked like it had been clipped when the plow went past it last winter. Turns out it was owned by the guy in one of the two houses it was in front of, and he just didn’t want it in his driveway. All legal according to the police station. A week later he came out and pulled it into his driveway.
If the driver wanted to be courteous, she could have asked you to give her a couple days and she’d get it towed, or something.
It sounds like its a public street where it’s parked. 24 hours isn’t even remotely long enough before I would consider calling the City on a parked car. I’d wait about a week.
Probably would have been a good idea to get the woman’s contact info. Did she say anything about what she was going to do about the car or about being stranded? I’d give it another day and and then call to report it.
It is a public street, yes, but it’s partially blocking my driveway. Not just ‘parked’. Not good.
No, she didn’t say anything about when it would be moved; she just said it was stalled and she couldn’t move it, sorry, then got back in. I was on my way to work, didn’t really have time to get her contact info, sorry.
I will probably give her till Saturday afternoon before calling. Friday is payday for most folks so maybe she is waiting for money to get it towed or something. I am not an unreasonable person. But if it’s not moved by then, I will call.
If my biggest in convenience was having to back out an an angle, I’d give her a couple of weeks. Who knows maybe she can’t only afford to get her brother to tow it and he works nights, or, well, who knows, is the point. But that’s just me.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the police are less than swift to deal with it, but maybe they’re having a slow day?
Not just backing out at an angle… over the sidewalk, causing my van to scrape. Also it is blocking my clear view of coming traffic, and people drive like a bat out of hell on my street at times. A couple blocks away from a high school and the kids use it as a drag strip.
The way it was left half in the street andblocking my drive it is an accident waiting to happen.
Where I live, you would wait 24 hours, then report it. The Police will come down at some point and put a 24 hour warning sticker on it. If it isn’t moved, they will tow it away.
My mailbox is on the street, and they will not deliver if a car is in the way, so I have had to do this about four times in the last five or six years.
The tag usually gets it moved within eight hours.
I don’t really care if they park in front of my house, (although I have had three vehicles totaled sitting there, which is why I don’t park there!)
I do however want my mail delivered.
A common trick is for thieves to abandon a car for a few days to see if its got a tracking device or not hidden in it before using it. Not saying that’s what is happening here, but the police will always be interested in hearing about abandoned cars just to rule out the possibility that’s it’s been nicked.
Even if she couldn’t afford to have it towed, she could have at least come back with someone to help push it out of the way if she wasn’t capable of moving it by herself. I would consider it abandoned from the moment she walked away from it.
If it’s obstructing your driveway at all it’s illegally parked and you have a right to get that thing towed (plus if it’s as far out from the curb as you say it’s doubly illegal). Do it now.
It wasn’t clear to me that her car was blocking the entrance to your driveway. For some reason I read that it was across from your driveway. By all means, I would call tomorrow AM, if it’s not moved today.
If it wasn’t blocking your driveway, I’d give it a week. I wouldn’t be happy about having a beater in front of my house for a week, but I’d suck it up.
Since it is blocking your driveway, and she didn’t do anything about it before she left, I’d call now.
You have an abandoned vehicle illegally parked partly across your drive. Call now and let the police cite it. They may grant the vehicle 48 hours before towing. They will also check to see if it was reported stolen.
Where I live I don’t think a car can be parked more than 72 hours on the street without being moved. If one of my vehicles died in front of someone’s house, I’d worry about it being towed and would make a real effort to let the person know what my intentions were. Especially if it was parked haphazardly.
Just to be nice, I’d give it 72 hours before calling…but you’d certainly be within your rights to call now since it’s blocking your driveway. I think you’re being very reasonable giving her until Saturday.
How can she not move it? It pisses me off when people can’t move their car, at least a little. Put it in neutral, get out, and push the fucking car. I’ve done it, and I’m not a strong girl!