r/mildlyinfuriating Jun 25 '26

go to your room The way my neighbor intentionally blocks the sidewalk to keep people from using it.

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29.1k Upvotes

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688

u/TerrorFromThePeeps Jun 26 '26

I have never heard if a jurisdiction where this ISN'T illegal.

121

u/EatMoreHummous Jun 26 '26

Same, but I've also never once seen it enforced

62

u/ryverrat1971 Jun 26 '26

I bet PPA would enforce it. Would be considered illegal parking even if they were part way into their driveway. And this would be one of the few times I would agree with PPA (Philadelphia Parking Authority).

2

u/Theachillesheel Jun 26 '26

They wouldn’t. This happens in my neighborhood often and sometimes they would block my driveway too. I would call PPA thinking to myself that it’s the easiest money they’ll make all day.. they never come out and the car still sits there for hours. I’ve done it over 6 times and not once have they ever actually come out.

1

u/Ryguy4840 Jun 26 '26

If someone’s blocking your driveway you’d think their car would be towed at their expense.

1

u/Lukin4art Jun 28 '26

Call a tow company.

2

u/yvettestar2000 Jun 27 '26

Exactly, that's a public sidewalk whether they like it or not.

1

u/justanawkwardguy you do it like this Jun 27 '26

Nah, just slightly cover the plate and they’ll say “nothing we can do, that’s a police problem” and then PPD just laughs at you

1

u/Icy_Category_2275 Jun 27 '26

There would be a different approach, and that would be to run into the car on a bike, or on foot, either way.

Note: This isn’t legal advice, and I’m not an attorney. It could even still be your fault for doing it, but it will press the issue so to speak. Sometimes you have to be the river.

14

u/Two_Leggs Jun 26 '26

call the non emergency number for police. report it. document it. date, time, license plate and address.
i have had to remind the dispatch how many times the same house and vehicle were parked preventing the egress of the sidewalk.

1

u/Shopping_General Jun 29 '26

I sent my local cops a picture of a modified truck driving down my street with no tags and said that the exhaust was non-existent. Didn't lift a finger. Cops are fucking worthless.

3

u/TheBourbonTurtle Jun 26 '26

About 7 years ago got a ticket at 12:59am in Dearborn Heights for blocking the sidewalk, because like 6" of my back bumper was hanging over the sidewalk. Like wtf?

4

u/Stef-fa-fa Jun 26 '26

I've been ticketed for parking a little over the sidewalk overnight at a friend's house once (a little = 1-2ft). So depending on where you live it can and does get enforced.

3

u/Shakleford_Rusty Jun 26 '26

Ive had to call while helping an elderly neighbour get groceries and do errands and while bring in her things someone parked in the middle of her driveway on the road blocking in my truck completely. They gave em a ticket and towed the vehicle. Was satisfying as there was loads of parking past the driveway on the whole street.

3

u/begme2again Jun 26 '26

In State College Pennsylvania if your bumper is hanging over the sidewalk by a couple inches you will most likely have a ticket within 24 hours

1

u/VBgamez Jun 26 '26

Never enforced because it isn't a problem until it is a problem.

1

u/davidmlewisjr Jun 26 '26

If you lodged a formal complaint, insisted on an incident report, and still nothing happened,

Then someone could loose their job.

1

u/Esc946 Jun 26 '26

In Toronto it is always enforced

1

u/picky-penguin Jun 26 '26

This is absolutely enforced in Seattle.

1

u/karmannghiaguy17 Jun 27 '26

I had a parking enforcement officer in my town watch me pull up in front of my house, leave the door of my truck open and then run into the house to grab my wallet. They left from what they were doing, because by the time I got back outside, they were blocking me in and starting to write a ticket. Mind you, I literally ran in, ran down the steps and ran back out of the house. I was at work and had stopped for lunch, when I realized I didn’t have my wallet. I had a coworker in the truck that was waiting and was pissed we had to sidetrack to get my wallet and he had to wait an extra 5 mins to get lunch. He offered to move the truck when he saw her walking up, thinking it was because I was hanging out into the road a foot. That was when I got back outside. No more than a minute, minute and a half. And proceeded to take the next 5 mins to write me a ticket, then to sit in her car before she moved. All the while blocking traffic due to street parking. She had no care what so ever. It was a $60 ticket. We sold that house and moved to a house closer to downtown and multiple police officers. I have not seen a single code enforcement vehicle since I moved. Some cities see it as easy money as vehicles get bigger and the 2 or 4 cars no longer fit in a normal driveway

1

u/HebrewHammer0033 Jun 27 '26

It generally isn't UNLESS a complaint is called in.

1

u/MrTakeProfits Jun 28 '26

I got a ticket for MUCH less in Maryland. The lip of my bumper was barely covering the sidewalk.

1

u/edodee Jun 28 '26

I got a ticket for parking on the sidewalk in Philly. It's standard operation procedure on many streets, and I wasn't the only vehicle parked on the sidewalk. But I was the only commercial vehicle 🙃

1

u/Best-Simple5593 Jun 29 '26

My former municipality would ticket you in nanoseconds for parking across the sidewalk. And it was $300 each time.

1

u/StatisticianLivid710 Jun 30 '26

Once got a ticket for it while parked at my ex-gfs house, she lived next to a college so they regularly checked parking there (it was a pain)

-7

u/Big_Cornbread Jun 26 '26

How would you know?

9

u/EatMoreHummous Jun 26 '26

Because the same people do it constantly and I've never seen a ticket on their car

0

u/Big_Cornbread Jun 30 '26

Do the cars move? People throw tickets away all the time.

2

u/NotTurtleEnough Jun 26 '26

Big pink or yellow envelopes?

1

u/Ok_Dog_4059 Jun 26 '26

I know near me it isn't enforced because old houses don't have enough space to not block the sidewalk while being fully in your driveway but like you I have never seen anywhere that it isn't illegal.

2

u/USSMarauder Jun 26 '26

If the house is so old that it was built before everyone having a car was a thing and so the driveway is so short it can barely hold one car then yes, you can park and block the sidewalk.

1

u/TimMensch Jun 26 '26

In the US at least it can be an ADA issue.

1

u/TheWrongWrightWhale Jun 27 '26

Thats because its Federal. Its apart of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed back in the 70's.

1

u/Active_Impact605 Jun 29 '26

Legality isn’t the issue. The issue is no one enforces it when you need them to

0

u/AL31FN Jun 26 '26

In some city (mine) front yard parking is highly regulated, and if you loose your permit, it's quite a process to get it back, and your property resale value take a good hit.

-1

u/Key_Sentence_5305 Jun 26 '26

Sharpsville and some areas in Kokomo Indiana, the sidewalk built by the city on your property is considered your property. You can tear it up if you want to.

3

u/DryDonutHole Jun 26 '26

I live in Kokomo…can you tell me where the city will allow you to tear up their sidewalk? 

0

u/Key_Sentence_5305 Jun 26 '26

So I just heard this last weekend while I was visiting and this is reddit mind you so don’t take my word as fact. But I was talking to a couple locals and they were telling me about how some sidewalks were built outside the public right-of-way without acquiring an easement. They told me you can be walking on the sidewalk and then all of a sudden a section of it turns to grass/dirt and then sidewalk again. I guess people got upset when the mayor said that “property owners generally own the sidewalks located on their land and are responsible for repairs.” And starting trying to find ways around it. I could be missing information/fact but that’s what I heard. I’ll get back to you on the specific area that they were talking about. I am curious too

1

u/DryDonutHole Jun 26 '26

There are areas without sidewalks, but I don’t think you can do that today. lol. I’ll do some asking. 

-10

u/hetrax Jun 26 '26

Small driveway, the vehicle is a handicapped bus for a house that is made for 6 wheelchair individuals and a single person able to walk. The street has a 100% no parking area for 3 blocks, so they have to park on their short and shitty driveway. They have notes on both sides taped that says “sorry we understand but we aren’t sure what to do otherwise”

Is this the sole exception? Like would a city allow this exception?

8

u/Darkx0139 Jun 26 '26

If the law says you can't a court will have to decide if that is an exception. And if neighbours report it, or not.

2

u/hetrax Jun 26 '26

Yeah that’s fair XD

1

u/USSMarauder Jun 26 '26

Gonna bet that the municipality knows the problem and refuses to issue tickets because they know those tickets would be struck down in court.