# Is there anything I can do about the guy who parks in front of my house?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 26, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151 "2007-10-26T19:43:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/1 "2007-10-26T19:43:37Z")
Every morning (before I get up), a minivan parks directly in front of my house. I’m about two houses down from the bus stop, and this guy likes to use the front of my house as a park-and-ride spot. His van’s there all day long, but he leaves before I get home.
Personally, it annoys me- because if he’d just park twenty feet further on, he wouldn’t be in front of anyone’s house… but no, he’s always got to park directly in front of my front door.
As an aside, I’m not sure why it annoys me so much- maybe it’s just because if he _would_ park just a bit further down, it wouldn’t feel like he’s doing it to just piss me off. I didn’t say I was logical about this.
However, since the road’s not too wide, he ends up parking on the sidewalk- actually, most of his minivan’s on the sidewalk. What’s more, there’s a woman who also rides the bus I ride… who’s in a motorized wheelchair. She has to either drive partly through my yard (if the guy has left her enough room), or she has to drive through the street (if he hasn’t).
What can I do about this guy? I, and several of my neighbors, have left notes on his windshield… but he’s apparently ignoring us.
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/2 "2007-10-26T19:46:16Z")
If he’s blocking the sidewalk, then presumably he’s parking illegally, so you can ask the police to come and book him for that.
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### Author:  [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/3 "2007-10-26T19:46:47Z")
If you parked on the kerb here you would get ticketed. We have this problem in my street. These two people save on paying for parking where they work by parking directly across from our driveway on a narrow road. My mother backed her car into one of them one day, partly because it was such a tight squeeze.
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### Author:  [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/4 "2007-10-26T19:53:10Z")
[This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caltrop) might help.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/5 "2007-10-26T19:55:45Z")
Why don’t you start with the human basics and just ask him?
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/6 "2007-10-26T19:58:59Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’]
As an aside, I’m not sure why it annoys me so much
[/QUOTE]
I’m guessing it’s because he’s tripping your territorial instinct. Maybe if you run out and bark at him…?
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### Author:  [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/7 "2007-10-26T20:09:52Z")
If he’s blocking access to your mailbox, you or the Post Office carrier, can have his car hauled away by the police. And as some of my neighbors on our small street with small driveways found out, the letter carriers might have very different ideas of what “blocking access” is in a mailtruck, compared to what SUV lady thought.
If it at all could be an issue, it’s probably worth your while to talk to your mail carrier some day when he delivers and see what his opinion is.
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### Author:  [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/8 "2007-10-26T20:10:42Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty]
Why don’t you start with the human basics and just ask him?
[/QUOTE]
Did you miss the part where **Lightnin’** and several of the neighbors have left notes on the windshield?
If he’s blocking the sidewalk, I’d say it’s an issue, especially for your neighbor in the motorized wheelchair. If he isn’t, then he’s legally parked, and you need to just live with it.
If the barking doesn’t work, because you don’t see him coming or going… maybe you could pee on his tires.
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### Author:  [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/9 "2007-10-26T20:13:19Z")
I have this same problem with a neighbor (an elderly guy) who frequently has a lot of guests over. For some reason, his guests never park in front of his house. They park in front of mine, and others on the street, and walk over to his house. It’s weird. I mean, wouldn’t you first try to park in front of the house you were actually going to if you could, and park elsewhere only if there was no space left there? He must be telling his guests not to park in front of his house; I can’t come up with any other explanation. It’s annoying but not a big enough deal to confront him over.
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### Author:  [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/10 "2007-10-26T20:15:42Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty]
Why don’t you start with the human basics and just ask him?
[/QUOTE]
Possibly because the OP said he parks before he gets up and leaves before he gets home?
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### Author:  [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/11 "2007-10-26T20:19:55Z")
Tactical nuke.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/12 "2007-10-26T20:22:24Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’]
. . . What’s more, there’s a woman who also rides the bus I ride… who’s in a motorized wheelchair. She has to either drive partly through my yard (if the guy has left her enough room), or she has to drive through the street (if he hasn’t). . .
[/QUOTE]
That’s an ADA infringement. Another vote for checking into getting him ticketed.
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### Author:  [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/13 "2007-10-26T20:24:39Z")
Preemptive parking?
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### Author:  [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/14 "2007-10-26T20:27:51Z")
One more says call the cops. You can be ticketed and/or towed here for blocking sidewalks. They’re very, very likely to do so in neighborhoods with handicapped residents.
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### Author:  [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/15 "2007-10-26T20:33:28Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty]
Why don’t you start with the human basics and just ask him?
[/QUOTE]
I second this. I’ve had neighbors do it and a nice note or suggestion has never failed to yield results.
Edit. Missed the part about the notes. If asking him doesn’t work call John Law.
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### Author:  [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/16 "2007-10-26T20:49:37Z")
My vote is for the passive/aggressive attack. Be creative. Cover his entire van in post-it notes saying things like “Don’t park here”, “Remember to get butter”, and “Do you live down by the river”.
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/17 "2007-10-26T20:52:27Z")
My father-in-law got tired of the neighbors guests using his narrow driveway to turn around in at the end of the street in the middle of the night, cutting it too sharp, and ruining his lawn.
He invested in a couple of 3 foot boulders to put at the bottom corners of his driveway. Now he says he smiles a little bit when he hears a “crunch!” wake him up in the middle of the night.
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### Author:  [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/18 "2007-10-26T20:54:22Z")
gasoline+matches=problem solved.
Ok, that’s a bit extreme, but add me to the list of folks clamoring for you to contact the authorities.
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### Author:  [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/19 "2007-10-26T21:00:49Z")
To answer the OP, is there anything I can do? Sure. Tons of stuff. Some legal, others, not so much.
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### Author:  [@MTRG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTRG)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/20 "2007-10-26T21:12:42Z")
If you lived in Pittsburgh, you could put a few chairs out in front of your house to stake your claim at the space
[respect the chair](http://www.parkingchair.com/)
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