this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2024
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Fuck Cars

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In London, England, where the roads are narrow, the parking spaces are limited and we have plenty of availability of vans that can actually fit things in, we still get these a*holes with their unnecessary large pick up trucks made for a road system completely different to ours...

These spaces are wider than usual and long enough to fit them but they still have to park like w*nkers blocking the only footpath around!

I mean, I have a 5 door hatchback and know that my car overhangs the back wheels, as does any primary school kid drawing a car...

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[–] [email protected] 96 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Bold parking choice for someone with thin paint that's softer than my keys

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Capitalist problems require capitalist solutions (aka make them pay for being cunt / key their shit)

[–] [email protected] 56 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

Check local laws about blocking sidewalks. You may be able to report them to a parking authority. Also, it may be illegal to have a hitch like that on the back while not actively towing (in some states in the USA it is).

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago

Steal the hitch, OP. Remove it and throw it in that bin right there.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

This is the UK, there are no regulations regarding parking on or blocking the pavement except in areas where it is specifically posted on signs (which are not super common). You could possibly use a different infraction if they were over the path and parkeds on zig zags for example but they'd be issuing for the zig zags and not the pavement.

It also looks like a supermarket car park which is private property therefore any of the rules based around parking dont really apply, only what they deem necessary to display and enforce. They only usually make any money from camera controlled entrance and exits enforcing maximum stays so that is all they'd ever enforce.

There is also no law regarding keeping the toe hitch attached to your car regardless of use or intent to use.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That's a bullshit bolt-on charge that cops use to enforce driving-while-black and everyone knows it.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Found one of the bastards that leaves the knee killer 9000 on his lifted princess truck that's never seen actual work.

And yet here we are with the hitch actively blocking even more of the sidewalk preventing someone with mobility issues from getting through. Seems like it's a pretty necessary thing that needs to be enforced more.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

Both of these things can be true though.

Also in this case that hitch isn't effectively blocking any space the truck wasn't already ( with the trash can there, so much if the sidewalk is impassable due to the truck the hitch is practically a non-factor).

Generally the bigger concern about them is increased damage in a rear end collision.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 months ago (2 children)

That should count as parking on the pavement violation imo

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago

I don't know what the laws are like in the UK, but I would be surprised, if it did not. Governments don't build wide footpaths for the fun of it. They exist to allow parents with prams/strollers as well as folks in wheelchairs to pass. When someone blocks the path, no matter the acrobatics they undertake to not actually have wheels on the path, that still makes the path unusable for its intended purpose.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Where I live, if the vehicle doesn't fit inside the lines, it's illegally parked. Even if it's the mirrors/bumper/hitch.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)

So many people think "if my wheels are in the space it's ok" and it drives me insane

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Where I live cars are like a natural creatures of the urban environment with their own will and can't be blamed. Stroller goes on the street very often because of it.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 3 months ago

This community is called "Fuck Cars", you don't have to censor the word asshole and wanker.

We're all adults here.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Man that truck bed looks useless.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

It’s vestigial. It’s not meant to be used. It’s entirely so it looks truck-shaped to satisfy a user who has no need for an actual truck. In someways, I’m a fan of the design because at least it’s admitting that you don’t need to own a truck in a tiny way, but in that case, just have a reasonable vehicle.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 months ago

You should be able to walk by and smash the tail lights. The truck is an obstacle in the way of a public walkway. If you are using the sidewalk appropriately, there should be no obstruction, and any damage that may occur would not have happened if the truck was not blocking a public walkway.

Violence is the only option left. We've been legally restricted from doing anything else.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Not just the pickup truck that is over the sidewalk.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

There’s a car backed in that’s blocking just as much of as the truck, wonder why they posted one and not both.

It’s bad parking lot design if a vehicle parks with its tires touching the parking stops, and it blocks the sidewalk. Most cars front and back ends stick out a couple feet, this would be blocked by ANY vehicle doing that here.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

People should know how big their vehicle is. If you are relying on the tires hitting a stop to know, you shouldn't be driving.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

The parking stops are for you to park against, hence their name and use… if the people who manage the parking lot installed them wrong, that’s not the vehicles fault. Look how many cars are also blocking the sidewalk in this picture.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago

I just scrap my keys on them at this point. I done dealing with car brain shit.

I dream about the day when the petro dollar crashes and fuckers that bought these things die in their house because they've never left their house on foot or bike before.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Tie a chain from the trailer hitch to the a fence post (note 'fence post' not fence chain) and leave about five or six feet of loose chain.

Most drivers (including myself) never bother to look at what their truck is attached to unless they were the ones who hitched a trailer to it themselves.

Lots of fun all around as they damage the fence and have to explain it or whip a chain to their tail end.

Leave the area and never return for about a month.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

giggle at will

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

As an American, that’s not even a big truck anymore in my part of the country. That be considered a medium.

It’s awful.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Off topic but do people censor wankers? Is it that level of swear? I thought it was on the same level as "crap" where it's a crass word but not exactly vulgarity

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Hmm, my impression was that it's mainly Australia, where they say it like it's a friendly morning greeting. UK folks certainly still say it, but it is deemed rude, and I could see some folks deciding to censor when writing it down, especially when it's used as a proper insult like here.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

That truck isn't remotely long enough to explain this.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

If a vehicle is too large to be parked safely, it shouldn't be permitted in regular spots.

Have a special parking area away from the building for these monster trucks.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

As a londoner who hates cars, im not even bullshitting you I would have put that bin on top of the truck bed and carried on past

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Me in my wheelchair 👁️👄👁️

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

get a cow catcher attached to the front and just flip that fucker at high speed

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

You only need to specify if it's one of the other Londons.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (2 children)

There are a few comments I'd like to reply to, but I'll stick it all into this separate one, in no particular order.

  1. I do not agree with general amounts of anger this or any other fuck<insert thing> sub promotes.
  2. Driver's licence is given to literally anyone who breaths (or their relative, pretending to be them).
  3. As such, driving skill in UK is abysmal.
  4. Parking spaces and lane widths have not kept up with vehicle size increases. Part of those increases is just fashion, but a lot of it is caused by ever tightening safety regulations. For reference - I drive an old 5 series and fit everywhere just fine. The newer 3 series are the same size cars than mine. See here and here. It's truly insane.
  5. This guy obviously cannot tell the size of the vehicle.
  6. Looks are subjective. I, personally, like the way a Ford Raptor looks, but I'd only consider it for offroading as it drives like absolute shit on regular roads. I like driving too much to give up handling for looks.
  7. Driving should be treated as a privilege, not a right.
  8. There's already way too much regulation for all the tiniest, dumbest things around. I can't stand how the general consensus seems to be "I don't want to think for myself, regulate it on my behalf". Just to clarify - I'm not against all regulation.
  9. The trailer hitch argument seems strange to me - must be an american thing. Permanent hitches are very much a thing here, one does not simply get rid of it during parking. Yes, electric ones exist - my car even has one - but not all cars do, especially older ones.
  10. Yes, parking spaces having wheel stoppers at whatever distance is deemed acceptable would help, but this goes back to outsourcing thinking to someone else. How about you get to know the bloody dimensions of you own car?
  11. On top of that - getting out of the car, checking if it fits into the spot and getting back in to fix if it doesn't is not a crime. One simply needs to care.
[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If you don't like this format, you can block communities you know.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Yes, I can. 3 caveats:

  • I try to not lock myself into a self created bubble
  • I want to believe in free speech as much as I can get away with morally
  • As an instance admin I cannot afford to let dodgy crap slip through just because I blocked a community

Lemmy is really crap on the admin side.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'm from a different country, so the rules might not be the same, but we have a rule to always leave a certain amount of space on the pavement, regardless what you do. Isn't there a thing in UK driving rules (or whatever it's called)?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Not sure, I exchanged my EU licence to a UK one years ago, haven't checked for such a specific thing, tbh. Again, it's never affected me - parking a car is really not difficult, as long as one gives a crap.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (5 children)

These kind of trucks have their utility if you work in a trade and you need to get stuff in and out, or maybe do frequent tip runs as a business.

This never seems to be the case for where they're actually used, though. I've known one person use them as such, and they very quickly switched back to a transit van because it was "much cheaper to run, and simpler to park".

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

They're pretty shitty for most tradesmen who only need to carry tools. The beds are so high and deep it's annoying to lift toolboxes in and out. A van with a roof rack is way more useful.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

a van with a roof can also hold a similar volume as the pickup can safely, while also being lockable, making it safer for the actual transport of said tools

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I have discussed this with a friend of mine and have come to the conclusion there is only 2 cases these kind of trucks are needed, and even then i only accept one as valid. All the rest can be solved with a regular, european, work van like a fort transit or mercedes sprinter.
The cases?
Farmers that need to get heavy shit off and on the field quickly if they dont have a regular traktor ( which they do, but it might be malfunctioning ) and when you are handling a hot air balloon.
Thats it.
The rest work better with vans or trailers or both together...

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Sweet baby deity, I hate sidewalk blockers.

I had a bruise for months on my shin because some douche nozzle parked with a hitch sticking almost to the other side of the 4ft sidewalk.

If you can't park nicely inside the space, at least have the decency to walk your happy ass across the parking lot and park in the back.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (4 children)

That's a ford ranger, which is only a bit longer (~200mm) than a short wheel base Mercedes sprinter and significantly shorter (~1800mm) than the extended wheel base version

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

And here, they ticket people where the trailer hitch reaches into the pedestrian space...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

Same here in Prague. When parallel parking, sometimes these cars are so fucking wide, that even tho there's more than enough space behind em, it's still impossible to navigate around their fat fucking ass, and by the time I'm finally behind it I'm at a 90 degrees.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

Looking down the line, seems like multiple offenders.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

What's a w*nker? Is it someone who winks a lot?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

No it's someone who makes chocolate

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