Recently a woman posted an incident on an online forum about an altercation she had with a driver who wrongfully parked his car in an illegal spot. Here is Kim’s story.
Out for a Stroll
A woman we’ll call “Kim” was out for a stroll with her son, taking a route she walks almost every day. She mentions that when she came to the first corner, she noticed the house must have had visitors because more cars were parked there than usual.
Oops
When Kim tried to walk her stroller through the cars parked there, she came to one illegally parked on the footpath, which caused her to push her son through the tight space. She notes that it was manageable because it didn’t wake her son. As she started to walk past the house, a man came out yelling at her that she scratched his new 2022 Kia. She came back and asked, “Where?” He showed her a light set of scratches along the wheel arch.
Illegal Parking
Kim informed the man that she wouldn’t have scratched his car if he hadn’t parked illegally and that he could rightfully expect her to push her son into the bushy road in order to get around his car, especially when he overran the footpath, effectively blocking her way through.
Pay Up
When the man demanded that Kim pay for the damages, she refused. Saying that she refused to be yelled at in front of her son, she turned around and walked away. Her husband, however, thinks she was in the wrong. He says she could have knocked on the door of the house and asked the man to move his vehicle. Kim laments that her partner agrees with the man and wonders if she’s truly in the wrong. Comments on her post were mostly supportive of her position.
Intention
One user pointed out that intention counts. “You didn’t intentionally scratch it; you squeezed past an illegally parked vehicle that was causing an obstruction. Imagine him going to his insurance. “And this damage happened when it was parked where?”
A Good Wax
Another person made a point that wax covers a multitude of scuffs. “Let’s be honest here: how big of a scratch can a stroller make? Nothing a really good wax won’t fix or, at least, masked well enough to get by.”
All Plastic
One funny poster made a crack about the quality of Kia vehicles. “It’s a Kia, I’m betting the whole thing is plastic.”
At Fault
A former adjuster figures Kim would be responsible for the damage while the driver would hold some responsibility as well. “Honestly, in most cases, she would be primarily liable. If she could’ve turned around or avoided and didn’t, it’s her fault (he would’ve been partially at fault for parking there).”
Pretty Prepared
Another interested party thinks the driver was too prepared for Kim walking by. “He seemed to be pretty prepared for that ‘oi.’ The scratch could have happened at any time while he was illegally parked. He probably saw it and then sat, waited for someone to pass, and then accused them.”
Snap a Pic
One individual thinks a picture is always worth a thousand words. “On this note, always worth turning around and taking a picture. Then if they escalate, let the police get involved and see how keen they are on their own hype.”
Safety
One commenter thinks Kim should never apologize for keeping her baby safe. “Parking half on the path is illegal, and not leaving room for prams and wheelchairs is just rude. He took the risk of parking like an idiot; scratching his car was an accident; that’s what his insurance is for. Next time maybe he will be more thoughtful. Don’t feel bad; the safety of your baby is far more important than a lazy, ignorant driver.”
Panic Attack
Apparently, bad parking and bad driving, in general, aren’t uncommon in England, where our story poster is from. “As a recent visitor to England, your roads and drivers honestly scare the crap out of me. Had to close my eyes multiple times as a passenger there to avoid a panic attack.”
Recourse
Another participant let Kim know she had the right of way. “On the path, pedestrians have right of way. Cars are only allowed to park partly on the path if they are not blocking access for its use. If he had been blocking the road and emergency services needed to get through, a lot worse damage would have been done to his car, and he would have no recourse.”
Lazy Driver
Someone else tells Kim that no one should have to walk into the road for a lazy driver. “Nobody should ever have to walk out into the road with a baby because of a lazy driver. I know I’ll likely be downvoted into oblivion for saying this, but as far as I’m concerned, even if you’d deliberately scratched the car with the pram on your way past, you still wouldn’t be the AH, and I’d applaud you!”
More Often
One clever person mentions that if this happened more often, people might take notice and part differently. “If illegally parked cars were damaged more often, then maybe fewer drivers would park like they own the road and footpath.”
Vandal
Clearly, not everyone thought Kim was in the clear on this one, although this individual did. “It dumbfounds me that so many people on here have you down as some vandal. The car was illegally parked on a footpath. The driver exhibited no consideration for pedestrians, parents, or the disabled.”
Ridiculous
Another respondent took issue with Kim’s partner. “So your partner thinks you should have taken your baby up to a stranger’s (or strangers’) house(s) and start asking completely random people you don’t know whose car that is and if they would please move it so that you can walk in the place where you are legally allowed to be walking? Also, your partner is ridiculous.”
Turned Around
One naysayer thinks Kim should have just turned around. “She could have turned around and taken another route, though. Kim wilfully damaged a vehicle, the whole my stroller got stuck doesn’t fly with me; she easily could have seen the stroller wasn’t going to fit.”
Right of Way
Plenty of people were on Kim’s side here, but there were definitely some strongly opinionated people who thought she was definitely in the wrong. For me, it really depends on the right of way. If pavements or sidewalks are for people, the driver has no right to obstruct her ability to walk there. Saying she should have turned around doesn’t work either. What if she’d been on the way to an appointment? Should she rearrange her life for the sake of the person who parked illegally over the sidewalk? The guy was absolutely in the wrong for parking across a walkway intended for people, and the law (Rule 244) seems to support Kim in this instance.
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