Cars & Motorbikes Friends parking on your driveway

My driveway is only wide enough for one car, so if there is a car parked on it, no cars can enter or leave the garage. Most friends park on my driveway when visiting, despite there being plenty of unmetered street parking available right outside my house.

A few times these have been my wife's friends, and I needed to leave; other times vice versa, or one of us would come home but be unable to park in the garage and unload groceries etc. The worst was when a plumber parked his truck on the driveway and I had to make an unplanned trip to the hospital.

Is this standard practice? Is an invitation to come over assumed to include an invitation to park on our driveway?

 

Common etiquette not to park in someone's driveway unless invited to do so or if its the only option.

 

park on the street and carry your groceries in.. seriously it's a driveway.

 

Wow, I would almost expect my guests to park in the driveway when visiting. Especially if they are lugging things in or with babies and kids as it's the closest and most safest. If I knew I had to get a car out of the garage or leave in a hurry then I'm sure it can be arranged quite quickly before or during.

 

Surely this is something you and your wife can work out together with a conversation?

If you are due home, she could just let her friend know that when you get home the friend will need to move his/her car.

Seems like a minor issue. Most people would be happy for their friends to park in their driveway if they are visiting them.

 

Yes it is a minor issue, and one that's easily sorted out. I was just wondering whether it's the norm to have the issue at all in the first place, personally I'm not comfortable parking on someone else's driveway as there could be other people in the house (that I'm not visiting) that need to go somewhere. Common courtesy etc.

The sentiment in most of the replies so far seem to correllate with the observed behaviour.

 

Can't you just asked your friends not to park in the driveway before they come over?

I come from a family that was like the 'castle' with a million cars in the driveway that we all just moved around as people left. We had a set of hooks all the car keys went on and whoever had to leave mostly moved other cars to get theirs out and then moved them back and put the keys back on the hooks. It was just a part of my life to include that time into any trip I was going to make...

 

I tried this once, even though I felt like I was coming across as rude. The response was "What, you really want me to park on the street?" (it's a dead-end road with little traffic)

Cool system, was this all family who knew how it worked, or did your friends also hang up their car keys on the hooks?

 

Friends had to do it as well, there was always a "put your keys on the hooks" statement to anyone who parked in the driveway. Most didn't mind although some people started parking on the street (mustn't have liked the possibility of a newly licensed 17year old moving there car). No one stopped coming over that I can remember though.

Forgot to add: We lived part way up a hill of a steep street that cars use to fly down btw...

 

Only time we park on the driveway is at the acreage home of friends. House is set a couple of hundred metres back from the road.
Marg

 

I pretty much always park in the driveway at friends places but I will check when I enter if it's ok due to someone needing to come/go

 

@chylld That's what I'd be doing - install a gate (& fence), problem solved. They might get the hint without telling them.

 

Me too.

Never had family or friends ask me not to park on their driveway unless of course there was a specific reason they needed clear access.

 

I've had relo's par in the middle of a double wide drive that had room to fit 4 cars, they took up all of them whilst also blocking the two cars in the garage.

I always park on the street/footpath when visiting friends, helps that I have a 4x4 so i usually just park wherever there is room

 

I don't park in other people's driveways. I personally think it's rude.

Most people when visiting here park on the road, but we haven't told them to park on the road.

 

On the footpath?