A little bump and slide

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August 30th, 2011 · 67 comments

According to our submitter, this car hasn’t been spotted in the path since.

related: BAD PARK YOU!

FILED UNDER: car · most popular notes of 2011 · parking · reverse psychology · smartass

67 responses so far ↓

#1 CS

Seriously, who sees a path and thinks, “Hey, this is a good place to park my car”?

Aug 30, 2011 at 7:40 pm rating: 90

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- #1.1 karen
  
  it is part of the driveway not the path
  
  Aug 30, 2011 at 7:49 pm rating: 90
- #1.2 raggetyman
  
  ummm, everyone in Australia?
  
  Aug 30, 2011 at 8:10 pm rating: 90
- #1.3 Jazza
  
  It is actually illegal to park over a path like that in NSW.. I got a ticket for it at my parents (was dropping off something for them so was on 2sec) but that note = LOL
  
  Aug 30, 2011 at 9:14 pm rating: 90
- #1.4 The Elf
  
  It’s both path and driveway. That’s what makes it so difficult. You’d want to keep the path clear, but at the same time, a driveway is meant to be parked in! I can’t see how long the driveway is, or how many cars are parked there, so we can’t tell if this driver had other options other than to block the path. Might just be a case of poor design.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 6:50 am rating: 90
- #1.5 Suzi
  
  It is pathway and *right of access for* the driveway, but not part of the driveway itself. You’re not allowed to block access to the driveway, and that right of access takes priority (so pedestrians have to stop and/or move out of the way when someone wants in or out) but just parking there is the same as parking in the middle of the road: just because you have right of way to drive there does not make it a nifty parking space.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 6:00 pm rating: 90
- #1.6 pony girl
  
  about 50% of my neighbors, unfortunately.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 8:22 pm rating: 90
- #1.7 pony girl
  
  Not sure what the law is where the pic was taken, but most places in the USA, if it is not a private road, then it is illegal to park across the sidewalk, it is even illegal to block your very own driveway.
  It is considered public right of way. They don’t want people to have to walk in the street, and they want emergency vehicles to be able to pull in in an emergency and to be able to have a place to turn around.
  
  It’s also just so freaking selfish.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 8:25 pm rating: 90
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#2 Lupita

Team note all the way!! Parking there = totes a dick move

Aug 30, 2011 at 7:47 pm rating: 90

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#3 karen

I don’t think it is part of the path if your driveway crosses it. The state/city will not repair this part of your drive if it gets damaged so I believe the car has the upper hand in this situation LOL

Aug 30, 2011 at 7:48 pm rating: 90

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- #3.1 FeRD
  
  Oh, even assuming the driver’s completely within his/her legal rights… that’s what makes this sort of thing a dick move!
  
  Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should!
  
  Aug 30, 2011 at 8:13 pm rating: 90
- #3.2 quat
  
  Illegal in Seattle. All sidewalks must remain clear for handicapped access. They can ticket you if any part of your car hangs over. And since we are all only temporarily able bodied… TEAM NOTE WRITER.
  
  Aug 30, 2011 at 10:48 pm rating: 90
- #3.3 Smedrick
  
  I don’t know if it’s state-wide, but I know of a couple towns in NJ that will ticket you for blocking the sidewalk with your car in your driveway.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 5:50 am rating: 90
- #3.4 koalikoon
  
  Where I live the city owns the outer edge of everybody’s “yards,” in case they decide to put in sidewalks. It doesn’t mean they’ll do anything to maintain that portion of our lawns or driveways, but it does mean that they can rip out any plants, landscaping, or vehicles we might be keeping there to make way for pedestrians.
  
  Is it inconvenient? Maybe. But everybody gets to use the sidewalks. Therefore everybody has to respect the sidewalks.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 11:45 am rating: 90
- #3.5 damienma
  
  The end of our yards by the roads are also the property of the city where I live. They can rip it up and do what they please with it, mostly for utility updates and installations. They come around and put cheap grass back down and fix the end of the driveway and that will always crack in about five days. But they also ‘own’ that part of the lawn so they can take out anything you might want to plant there. This is to keep an access point on either side of the roadway for post-hurricane things they might have to do.
  
  Sep 1, 2011 at 2:53 pm rating: 90
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#4 Tiffany

YES!!! And now I have the darn catchy tune of the horn stuck in my head…

Aug 30, 2011 at 7:56 pm rating: 90

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- #4.1 FeRD
  
  …Tiffany wishes she were in the land of cotton?
  
  Aug 30, 2011 at 8:10 pm rating: 90
- #4.2 The Elf
  
  Now you might think those Duke boys were in a heap of trouble with that car blockin’ the path to the Uncle Jessie’s still……
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 6:58 am rating: 90
- #4.3 Clumber
  
  ♫♪ Just two good ole’ boys, Never meaning no harm… BeatsAllYouNeverSaw been InTroubleWithTheLaw since the day they were born….♫♪♫♪♪
  Sorry all for the earworm, my brain insisted on reading Elf’s in that Waylon voice and the next step was clearly the song. Too bad no thumbs down option eh?
  
  Wait… where are the boobs and cutoff jean shorts?! DAMMIT I was lead to believe there would be boobage!
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 8:28 am rating: 90
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#5 Catherine

In our state, it is illegal to block the right of way of any paths, sidewalks, etc. that go across your driveway or property. So one could, in fact, call the cops and have the car’s owner ticketed. But I like the note better.

Aug 30, 2011 at 8:05 pm rating: 90

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#6 Karla

That’s more than a path, that’s a sidewalk. You can get a parking ticket for leaving your car there. At least in Philadelphia you can.

Aug 30, 2011 at 8:10 pm rating: 90

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- #6.1 FeRD
  
  Yeah, but… looking at this community — just judging by the design of that block, really — I don’t think their sidewalk laws are likely to be as stringent as they are in a pedestrian city like Philly. It doesn’t look like the sort of place where they’re necessarily even required to have sidewalks, much less keep them unobstructed.
  
  Aug 30, 2011 at 8:18 pm rating: 90
- #6.2 Superabound
  
  Looks like California to me. Stringent right of ways for pedestrians.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 10:41 am rating: 90
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#7 amy

GENIUS! This is the best response possible!

Aug 30, 2011 at 8:13 pm rating: 90

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#8 Chicon

I am all for the note!!!! The laws in Houston are the same as in Philly – driveway or not, you can’t block the sidewalk. It’s irritating when you have to walk around the car, and into the grass where the dog walkers who don’t pick up (also illegal, but harder to ticket) leave their gifts. Don’t be a jerk – keep the sidewalks walkable!

I absolutely plan on executing a movie star slide next time I have the chance!

Aug 30, 2011 at 8:55 pm rating: 90

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- #8.1 Two Birds, One Stone
  
  If you have a plastic bag (or something else so you won’t have to touch it.) why not transfer the presents from the dog walkers to the hood of the car parked across the sidewalk?
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 10:24 am rating: 90
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#9 bluefish

As well as would be stunt men, give some consideration to those with prams or wheelchairs…

Aug 30, 2011 at 9:54 pm rating: 90

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#10 KittyPoo62

Better yet, try it wearing a studded belt!

Aug 30, 2011 at 9:59 pm rating: 90

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#11 1littledragon

Actually…I believe that this sort of parking is illegal. It’s not the kind of thing that is on the top of the list of the law but….one can get a ticket for this because even though it’s in a driveway, the car is parked on a public path and on city property. I remember a neighbour got a ticket for doing this same thing…it was winter time and the snow clearance operator couldn’t clear the path/sidewalk there by leaving it open for slipping and injuries.

Aug 30, 2011 at 10:12 pm rating: 90

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#12 JetJackson

Most hood slides in cop movies are carried out under gun fire. If I see you sliding across my car I will ensure a more realistic hollywood experience for you.

It will be Awe-some!

Aug 30, 2011 at 10:31 pm rating: 90

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- #12.1 Clumber
  
  While I do not accept your premise (were bullets -ever- fired in Dukes?), your conclusion makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 8:32 am rating: 90
- #12.2 Danny
  
  Bullets were fired quite a few times in Hazzard County – not only at the Dukes, but at various other people. The Duke boys, however, were on probation and not allowed to own firearms. Arrows with dynamite strapped to the end were apparently just fine though.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 9:44 pm rating: 90
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#13 lilmrsmchenry

I was guilty of parking like this at our new place. Not to be bitchy but because right after the sidewalk our driveway does a steep nosedive toward the house and I have a crappy car. I did this for about a month, not even thinking about it (I mean, I’m in my driveway and I have never seen anyone use the sidewalk.). About a month ago, a neighbor that I have never laid eyes on up to this point, decides to let me know that he doesn’t appreciate this. How does he do it? He sees me getting my 4 small children into my car, drives over, and blocks me into my own driveway with his huge SUV. He then proceeds to tear into me and cuss me out for a full 20 minutes about it while I just stood there kind of stunned. I was starting to think that I would have to call the cops on this lunatic when he suddenly turns back to his vehicle and peels off. I have not seen him since.
I guess what I am saying is, team note writer!
This is way more appropriate then what I went through when I made a similar mistake.

Aug 30, 2011 at 10:54 pm rating: 90

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- #13.1 Kate
  
  Please don’t take this as a ‘stoopid Americans’ comment, but have you really never seen anyone use the sidewalk?
  I just can’t imagine that. You hear that American cities are set up for car drivers and not pedestrians but that you can live somewhere and no one walks anywhere just seems crazy.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 8:59 am rating: 90
- #13.2 lilmrsmchenry
  
  Well, I live in a neighborhood that is mostly elderly people to be honest, there are only about 10 houses on my street. Outside the neighborhood I see people walking all the time.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 9:48 am rating: 90
- #13.3 The Elf
  
  I believe it. In my old neighborhood, sidewalks lined the street. But we were the last house on the row, so the only people that used the sidewalk was us. Our county requires us to shovel all sidewalks in front of our house, which included the wrap-around-down-the-hill-part that *no one* used. I never shoveled it.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 2:30 pm rating: 90
- #13.4 Donna Martin Graduates!
  
  You know, just because you never saw anyone walking on the sidewalk doesn’t mean they don’t. You seem to have a good reason, but you selfishly blocked the sidewalk with your car for a month before someone brought it to your attention.
  
  Sidewalk trumps personal driveway.
  
  I am not at all defending that guy’s hostile approach — in fact, I think what he did was tantamount to kidnapping (obstructing your means of exit), not to forget distressing you and your kids.
  
  Next time anyone does anything like this to you, *immediately* call the cops (don’t put up with it for 20 mins thinking about calling – WTF?) and report the behaviour along with the license plate.
  
  In this case, you even know where he lives.
  
  Team “Keep the sidewalks clear for pedestrians.” It’s only fair.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 4:23 pm rating: 90
- #13.5 psycho killa
  
  I was thinking that just because you never saw anyone walking on the sidewalk doesn’t mean they don’t. You seem to have a good reason, but you selfishly blocked the sidewalk with your car for a month before someone brought it to your attention.
  
  Sidewalk trumps personal driveway.
  
  I am not at all defending that guy’s hostile approach — in fact, I think what he did was tantamount to kidnapping (obstructing your means of exit), not to forget distressing you and your kids.
  
  Next time anyone does anything like this to you, *immediately* call the cops (don’t put up with it for 20 mins thinking about calling – WTF?) and report the behaviour along with the license plate.
  
  In this case, you even know where he lives.
  
  Team “Keep the sidewalks clear for pedestrians.”
  
  Pretty selfish to do otherwise…
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 4:25 pm rating: 90
- #13.6 meeper
  
  None of the seniors in your neighbourhood walk around outside? I find that odd. I live in an apartment building with 30% seniors and they ALL walk around outside quite a bit. Even the ones with walkers.
  
  That being said, you didn’t deserve to be screamed at for 20 minutes like that, most especially with the kids there. I would have called the cops too.
  
  Sep 1, 2011 at 11:38 am rating: 90
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#14 Adriana

I learned this on Parking Wars.

Aug 30, 2011 at 11:12 pm rating: 90

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- #14.1 Danny
  
  Stupid cabbie should have pulled farther in before taking that crap.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 9:46 pm rating: 90
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#15 James L.

Why slide over the hood? I would be tempted to walk on top of the car like Rachel Bilson in that ice cream commercial. Except not barefoot nor as a cute petite girl.

Aug 31, 2011 at 1:38 am rating: 90

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- #15.1 And perhaps
  
  With stilettos?
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 8:05 am rating: 90
- #15.2 Madrias
  
  Combat boots. Nice large dents to get pulled out of your roof.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 1:26 pm rating: 90
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#16 Get on your bikes and ride

Good to see that ol’ Bo Duke is still alive and well, and apparently not at all hindered by cars blocking the path of his speeding wheelchair.

Aug 31, 2011 at 1:42 am rating: 90

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#17 Seriously

Can I love this note? Love it!!

Aug 31, 2011 at 8:04 am rating: 90

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#18 Dunno

In Miami it depends on your neighborhood or association. In my case we have four cars, (four working adults) where else are we supposed to park them? We don’t have a garage. You get a ticket for parking in the street and in the grass, so why can’t you use your own driveway? The bit on the other side of the sidewalk isn’t big enough to fit two cars, maybe one sideways.
What about people with big trucks or SUV’s? One person in my area has 5 cars, one is a work truck. It takes up a whole parking space and a half!

And no, we can’t have just one or two cars, we all work in different places with different schedules, and the transit system in Miami is very ineffective.

Aug 31, 2011 at 8:43 am rating: 90

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- #18.1 sleeps
  
  Actually, it appears Miami city code requires you park not less than 18 inches from a sidewalk; your neighborhood association can’t supersede that. I guess these are things you consider when deciding where to live, and you take the chance of getting tickets/pissing off your neighbors.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 9:45 am rating: 90
- #18.2 Suzi
  
  Indeed, if you need parking for four cars, choose a home that has parking for four cars (concrete instead of a lawn, ‘public’ parking areas, whatever). If you only suddenly found this issue after moving, and can’t/don’t want to move again, then find where the nearest open parking areas would be and park the surplus cars there.
  
  Honestly, if you’re the one who has too many cars (and sure, you need them, but that’s your problem for having that set-up in a home that can’t accommodate it, not mine), then don’t use that as an excuse to inconvenience others who aren’t looking for any more than their allotted share.
  
  Where I live, we have very limited parking. The houses are all four-in-a-block, and each ‘upstairs’ has ownership of a driveway with space for a single car, and each ‘downstairs’ has on-street parking in front of their building, again with space for a single car. Everyone always used their own, and were happy. Visitors had to borrow someone’s space while they were out and not overstay, or park a good way aways and walk. Then a guy moved into one of the houses who owned two cars and a van. Suddenly, we’re having issues like his van parked in my space, or his extra car blocking off a driveway. All because he and his family ‘have to’ have three vehicles, and he ‘has to’ park them in the street, so we all ‘have to’ suffer because he’s a dick.
  
  Don’t be a dick. Just because you have a reason does not mean you have an excuse.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 6:12 pm rating: 90
- #18.3 pony girl
  
  Yeah, it’s difficult for me to feel sorry for people who have so many cars for a property that can’t hold them.
  
  My driveway is constantly blocked by each of the neighbors on either side. Not completely, I can pull in and out. But still.
  And the reason? The neighbor on one side has a one car garage filled with crap and an RV parked in their driveway with no room left over for their truck and motorcycle.
  So, they park the truck on the street, but don’t want to block their driveway or their mailbox, so they block my driveway, anywhere from 8 inches to two feet. and they park the motorcycle in the middle of the sidewalk. Not the sidewalk portion in their driveway, the sidewalk in front of their house.
  The neighbors on the other side are two couples. Their 2 car garage is filled with crap, and they have a boat in the driveway that blocks the sidewalk. They park one vehicle next to the boat, one across the sidewalk and the other in front of my house, blocking my mailbox and driveway. They leave the area in front of their house clear, for their bandmates.
  
  When I was househunting, I looked for a house with a two car garage and a driveway that was big enough for 4 big cars to fit. That way, I don’t have to be an asshole like my neighbors.
  
  So, yeah, team notewriter, and if your vehicles don’t fit, too damn bad, it’s not my problem, it’s yours. Either move or get rid of the vehicles.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 8:39 pm rating: 90
- #18.4 The Elf
  
  I have to agree with ponygirl, and we have five vehicles for two drivers. One of the criteria for moving was to have enough parking. We can fit everything in our driveway (no sidewalks) and still have room for guests.
  
  Sep 1, 2011 at 6:53 am rating: 90
- #18.5 sleeps
  
  Jeez, pony girl, what kind of lawless municipality do you live in that allows your neighbors to park like that? I’m not even a little bit ashamed to admit that, in your situation, I’d totally make a friendly call to the local PD and suggest they cruise down my street for some parking violation gold.
  
  When we were househunting, we found one we liked, but the neighbors on one side sounded like yours; boat permanently parked in the front drive, and their pickup hung out into the street when they parked it behind the boat, so they permanently kept their trashcan at the pickup’s bumper, as if that would conceal the fact that it was dangling 3 feet into oncoming traffic. Gotta say, that was one of the deciding factors that caused us to choose a different house. You just know there’s no reasoning with asshats like that.
  
  Sep 1, 2011 at 9:07 am rating: 90
- #18.6 Dunno
  
  I was just making a point that sometimes you can’t help but block the sidewalk. If you are disabled and can’t go around I can understand why you are mad, and if it is a law then sure you are supposed to follow it. But every blocked sidewalk isn’t because the person is an ass. (Though it happens) There are always two sides to the story.
  
  My neighborhood and neighbors don’t really care if the sidewalk is blocked, most people on my street do block the sidewalk with their cars. But it is also a safe enough place for the kids to play in the streets speed bumps etc so most people don’t use the side walk anyways.
  
  My place does fit fours cars, of course that is something we look for before we move. They just fit with the sidewalk. We don’t have mail boxes in front of our homes, so that isn’t a problem either.
  
  When we lived in apartments, the assigned parking always went to my mother in law who is disabled, and the everyone else parked in the guests (which was also allowed in the complex)
  
  Moving into a place and not knowing the parking rules is just silly. Blocking the side walk was one of the first things we asked about before we moved in. Our association is more concerned with oil spots and grass growing where it shouldn’t. Otherwise they are pretty lax.
  
  Sep 1, 2011 at 10:06 am rating: 90
- #18.7 pony girl
  
  @ sleeps,
  
  South Austin, Baby!
  
  ps – a cop lives down the street.
  
  Sep 1, 2011 at 6:25 pm rating: 90
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#19 Dr. Chalkwitheringlicktacklefeff

Team Nobody.
Or maybe Team Everybody.
I’m not sure; nobody is in the right here, because nobody is in the wrong.

I doubt the note writer actually slides across other people’s cars, and is just being humourous in their note; and the car isn’t THAT badly parked either. I mean, there’s a good sized gap at the end of the path for someone to just walk round it.

Amusing note though.

Aug 31, 2011 at 9:58 am rating: 90

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- #19.1 Kate
  
  Not enough of a gap for a wheelchair user or someone with a pram really.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 10:19 am rating: 90
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#20 Morgan

Yeah, the driver is pretty dick-ish. Come on, move forward or back a little.

Aug 31, 2011 at 10:01 am rating: 90

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#21 ezpzlemonsqueezy

next time, they should smear a tub of cool whip over the hood before sliding. that would make for a slippier slide, with cooler effects.

Aug 31, 2011 at 11:40 am rating: 90

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#22 Le lac

I don’t think it’s an enforced law in my neighborhood, but I have some neighbors deserving such a note. They’re next to the cluster mailbox that serves the entire street, so they’re inconveniencing all of their neighbors on a daily basis.

Aug 31, 2011 at 12:56 pm rating: 90

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- #22.1 Clumber
  
  Our *evil and lazy postal officer won’t bother to deliver the mail if there is ANYTHING within about 2 meters from the mailbox. Cars, recycling baskets, trashcan, locusts… Any excuse to just drive on by. Your neighbors would cause NO ONE in our area to get their mail.
  
  *Yes. Yes I know she is, absolutely. Soon after moving, there was a story in the local rag about an entire development that our postal officer stopped serving AT ALL b/c someone complained on that street. Everyone – maybe 25 houses – is required to have a POB or no mail you! So we don’t dare complain. Some weeks we only get mail on the Saturday person’s shift.
  
  Aug 31, 2011 at 3:56 pm rating: 90
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#23 mutzali

I live in San Jose CA. One time I was in a hurry to unload kids and left my car hanging about 6 inches into the sidewalk. The Sheriff’s deputy who lives down the block knocked on my door and (quite nicely) asked me to pull my car in a little more or he’d have to ticket me.

Aug 31, 2011 at 1:01 pm rating: 90

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#24 wonderman

Team “fall guy” all the way.

Aug 31, 2011 at 3:01 pm rating: 90

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#25 shwo!

While parking across the sidewalk is unacceptable, I think putting a chair there to hold the parking spot would be OK.

Aug 31, 2011 at 3:42 pm rating: 90

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#26 TheGuyWhoDidThis

So the back story:
It’s a small town, but this is one of the busier streets. This house is one of the few residences on a mostly commercial way (including a busy City Market) across the street. There are a lot of pedestrians using these paths all of the time including my wife who sometimes pushes a stroller and cannot get past cars parked like this. I thought for a few days about what to do… Since it looked like they had done a lot of Autozone ‘upgrades’ I figured they cared for it a lot and the thought of someone sliding over the hood would freak them out.

I never actually slid over the hood.
The car has never been parked across the path since and it’s been around 3 months since!
While the car is parked across the path, there is just enough room for a human to fit between the car and their fence, so a cyclist or parent with stroller would never make it.

Aug 31, 2011 at 6:16 pm rating: 90

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#27 squeegeeash

All I can think of is a line from that song “What Was I Thinkin’” that goes, “We ran outside/ hood slidin’ like Bo Duke”

Aug 31, 2011 at 7:58 pm rating: 90

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#28 Dick

lets just hope they do a better parking job for now on!

Sep 1, 2011 at 9:09 pm rating: 90

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#29 Stealing

I’m totally stealing this idea, except adding some illustrations. I don’t understand why this guy can’t just park in the street in front of his driveway.

Sep 20, 2011 at 7:27 pm rating: 90

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