# Is it rude to regularly block your sidewalk with a vehicle? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 11, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362 "2017-08-11T21:25:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/41 "2017-08-14T00:10:23Z")
Incredibly rude. An asshole business owner near me has decided that the sidewalk is the perfect place to park his excess trucks. This pinhead decided to open a truck intensive business in a building with no parking lot! I have been trying to get the police to ticket him for two years. His trucks and vans completely block the sidewalk, and everyone has to walk in the street to get around them. The issue is that he’s only a couple dozen feet from the entrance to a very busy convenience store, and customers (and cops!) tear-ass out of the store, and inevitably someone will be walking in the street when one of the police cars comes tearing out of the store (which offers them free coffee and discount foot) and will kill someone. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/42 "2017-08-14T02:08:10Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I have a driveway that is barely long enough for two vehicles. We back in to our driveway. I keep almost two feet from my rear bumper and my wife’s front bumper. So we can walk between the vehicles. > > That leaves my front bumper about three feet from the curb. > > Thankfully there aren’t any sidewalks on my street. So I’m not blocking anything. > > Pedestrians are rare on my street. Except for kids and they walk on the road. If there’s not an actual path designed for pedestrians that you’re parked across, then I think you’re probably okay - you can simply define the gap between your two cars as “the path” where any walkers can go. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/43 "2017-08-14T03:51:52Z")
Rude but I’m not calling the cops unless you block my garage. Technically its against the law but the police around here are not going to ticket anyone unless there is a complaint (like blocking an actual garage or entrance) unless you almost force them to. Our neighborhood is tough because it was designed and built up mostly in the 19teens or earlier before cars were really considered. Even the people like us who have garages - they were actually designed as small “mother-in-law” houses - often have multiple vehicles and most of the houses have no off-street parking. And given how narrow some of the streets are its either the sidewalk or move which is beyond the economic possibilities of some of the people. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/44 "2017-08-14T16:12:19Z")
I got a ticket for doing it in Ames, Iowa circa 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/45 "2017-08-14T16:36:52Z")
In big cities people will do this and I guess it is OK for a while but if you consider that your regular parking space then that is a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/46 "2017-08-14T17:07:20Z")
When I lived in Ithaca, NY a few decades ago if you left it that way for an hour there was a 50% chance you’d come back to find not just a ticket but that your car had been towed. They were serious about parking rules there and then. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/47 "2017-08-14T22:23:41Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > My city must have no laws or ordinances against it. It’s super common. You can probably call the city or police non-emergency number and ask. In my city, citations are uncommon, but if someone calls and complains, the parking cops will come and issue a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/48 "2017-08-14T23:53:58Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > So the people on either side of you are being rude as well since they are also doing what you described, correct? No, I’m the schlep caught behind their blockade. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/49 "2017-08-15T00:57:21Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > In big cities people will do this and I guess it is OK for a while but if you consider that your regular parking space then that is a problem. Again, I really don’t mind if it is once in awhile. It’s the regulars that bother me. We had a family near us that parked an obviously heavily used(old) Ice Cream truck in their drive blocking the little sidewalk section. It rarely moved. During my bike ride, there is one white pickup truck that is covering the sidewalk about 90% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/50 "2017-08-15T01:18:22Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > It depends where you are, in many places it’s legal. > > Blocking the sidewalk is also pretty dangerous if you are forced out in the road to get by. Especially in the winter when negotiating snowbanks, or for the physically or visually impaired. At some point in my life, I’ve lived in a student residence. Down the road, there was a small river. Up the road a residence for elderly people. Due to a lack of parking spaces around, there essentially always were some cars on the sidewalk. As far as I can tell every morning, one resident of the retirement home, using a walker, would very slowly go to the river and back. And she had to go off the sidewalk and on the road around every parked car. The road had moderate traffic, so of course it was dangerous. But the most painful part was seeing her getting off the sidewalk, around the car and on the sidewalk again with her walker. It was taking her forever. Since then I see again this old lady every time I notice a car parked on a sidewalk and hate with a passion people who do that. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/51 "2017-08-15T01:38:10Z")
It’s not just rude but potentially dangerous and a real obstacle to those who are mobility impaired. As I was driving home from work one night I noticed someone had parked across a sidewalk. The next morning I was driving back to work and noticed someone had thrown a whole bucket of white paint on the car blocking the sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/52 "2017-08-15T01:38:21Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > In big cities people will do this and I guess it is OK for a while but if you consider that your regular parking space then that is a problem. I would have said the opposite actually. I live pretty close to the center of a big city, and it’s so thoroughly against the norms here that I don’t even remember the last time I saw someone do it. Everyone parallel parks at the side of the street. If the side of the street is full up, you just have to keep circling wider and wider through the neighboring streets till you find some free space or a paid parking lot. Footpaths are in constant use, so if you block them you’ll massively inconvenience people pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/53 "2017-08-15T11:09:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I have a driveway that is barely long enough for two vehicles. We back in to our driveway. I keep almost two feet from my rear bumper and my wife’s front bumper. So we can walk between the vehicles. > > That leaves my front bumper about three feet from the curb. > > Thankfully there aren’t any sidewalks on my street. So I’m not blocking anything. > > Pedestrians are rare on my street. Except for kids and they walk on the road. Yeah, a lot depends on norms. As a big city poster said, people don’t block sidewalks there, probably because you can always see a pedestrian using it, if not dozens of them. My own area is moderately walked. There’s always people within eyesight using the sidewalks, plus we have several people in our neighborhood who use wheelchairs. The vast majority of drivers here seem to know what’s up, but it only takes one person to not understand what he’s doing or not care to cause a problem. So it’s actually kind of a cultural norm here to cut through the grass on these people rather than go out into the road. If a path is trod enough, it will damage your sod and I’ve seen it with people who don’t seem to get the message very quickly. Nothing like a semi-circular bike path cut through your grass. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/54 "2017-08-15T12:18:24Z")
Sheesh, what kind of police services refuse to enforce these rules? Around here, I don’t even think you’d have to report it, and they’d get tagged pretty swiftly. And I guarantee if you called and reported it as a regular occurrence, to parking enforcement they’d be on it that day. And watching hawkishly into the near future I suspect. It’s beyond rude. Forcing small children, the elderly, the disabled, and mothers with strollers and toddlers in tow into the street **IS** endangering the lives of others for your convenience. That’s beyond rude, it’s criminal, in my opinion! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/55 "2017-08-15T12:30:31Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Sheesh, what kind of police services refuse to enforce these rules? Yeah, well I’d expect no less from your frozen Socialist paradise! 😉 America (or at least the 3 Chicago suburbs I have specific experience with) is too exceptional to worry about such things as sidewalk blocking and universal health care! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/56 "2017-08-15T12:38:18Z")
True, but man, do they spend resources making sure no one’s having fun in the VIP room at strip clubs. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/57 "2017-08-15T12:41:31Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Sheesh, what kind of police services refuse to enforce these rules? The Kansas City, Missouri one. Dozens of police officers have refused to ticket the company parking trucks and vans on the sidewalk, enough to make me suspect the foul-mouthed coot who owns the place is a retired cop. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/58 "2017-08-15T15:51:42Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The Kansas City, Missouri one. Dozens of police officers have refused to ticket the company parking trucks and vans on the sidewalk, enough to make me suspect the foul-mouthed coot who owns the place is a retired cop. That’s when you write to the city council, or go to your local busybody news team. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362/59 "2017-08-15T15:59:28Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Yeah, well I’d expect no less from your frozen Socialist paradise! 😉 America (or at least the 3 Chicago suburbs I have specific experience with) is too exceptional to worry about such things as sidewalk blocking and universal health care! 😃 That’s interesting. I live in Chicago and go to the suburbs, and it’s been beaten into my head to never ever park across a sidewalk in a driveway. Not that I know anyone getting a ticket for it (I’ve never asked), but it’s been clearly stated to me that it’s just not done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-regularly-block-your-sidewalk-with-a-vehicle/793362.md?page=2)