Parents park in front of my driveway. Is it bad to block them?

A British mother has sparked a debate online after revealing that she is considering blocking cars parked in her driveway while she is at school.

Lead to parent forum momsnetthe anonymous woman explained that there was an elementary school at the end of her street and whenever her driveway was empty, parents would park in front of it to pick up their children.

The unnamed mother said things had come to a head earlier this week when she was confronted by one of the parents, who tried to tell her they “needed” to be there to pick up their son.

He then asked if it was being unreasonable to block the cars, wondering if it was “too petty.”

Other users said that it only took a few moments for them to collect the children and that blocking them would be aggressive.

In her original post, the woman wrote that she herself parked in a visitor space on the driveway from her house, leaving her driveway empty for her partner.

But he explained that around the school rush hour, people had started parking in front of his entrance.

She wrote: ‘I work from home and usually park in visitor’s pay outside my house so my partner can park in the driveway when he gets home between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m.’

She said: ‘Recently though, people have been parking in my driveway. Last week, I caught someone dumping. I knocked on her window and they argued with me, saying they needed to pick up her son.

“Eventually they moved, but they moved to where they blocked off half of my driveway and half of my neighbor’s so no one could access it.”

She wrote: “I didn’t bother facing them again, but in the future I’m thinking of blocking them. Is that too petty?”

Revealing a bit more of his plan, he said: “If I were to block someone, it would only be for 30 minutes to cause a bit of stress and a lesson learned.”

She added: “I reported it to the school, but all they said is that they already asked parents not to lock out residents, so I’m not sure what else to do.”

Many other users said it was an appropriate move for parents who were parking their cars in the driveway.

One wrote: ‘I would without a doubt’.

Another wrote: “Lock them up and go for a nice long walk,” while a third wrote: “Absolutely do this, they’ll stop soon.”

“I would,” added a fourth. ‘What value. Or put a chain in your driveway.

‘Yeah! And what if they get aggressive? Go inside the house and call the police,” wrote another.

‘I would suggest a large pot with some spikes at the bottom of the path, your dear companion can move it when he gets home.’

Another commented: ‘First I would tell them quite clearly and non-aggressively that it is an offense to block a drive, and how would you like it to be done?

‘So if they still do, take a picture of the car and report it. If they don’t listen to you, they may listen to the authorities.

But some said he was being unreasonable.

One warned: “Blocking someone could lead to a very aggressive situation, so I wouldn’t do it.”

A third wrote: ‘But for blocking, can you get fined? Isn’t that technically breaking a traffic rule?

Others said they would take different measures.

One wrote: ‘Surely a big traffic cone would be your friend here.’

Another said he should bill for the space and leave a note on the offending car.