Does anyone know how long a car can be parked on a public street ? one has been left a week now but is taxed!!

Question

The road has no waiting limit time on it or yellow lines of any sort, but the car does not belong to any-one in the road and appears to be "parked" by someone and has now not moved for just over a week. It is taxed but not sure if insured of course it is a converted for off road use 4x4 no bumpers but winch at front etc. Any help on the legal limits on this would be great. it is opposite my house and makes getting off my drive akward but not impossible. Thanks

Answer 1

Since it is making access to premises awkward it is probably causing an obstruction - you could report this to the Police.

As it has no bumpers fitted it may also be in breach of the Vehicle Construction & Use Regulations - the Police should be able to decide whether this applies.

Contrary to popular belief no-one has any statutory right to leave a vehicle in any public highway (unless they have paid for the priviledge e.g. at a parking meter). It is a practice which has grown up through usage but the only firm right the public has over highways is to 'pass and repass'.

Answer 2

Your first port of call is the Council, if it is causing an obstruction then there is a case to answer.

Answer 3

HELLO

AS LONG AS IT IS

TAXED

MOT'D

INSURED

IT CAN STAY THERE INDEFINITELY

YOU SAY IT'S TAXED SO THAT HAS TO BE AT LEAST UNTIL THE END OF THIS MONTH.

WHEN THIS RUNS OUT CONTACT POLICE AND REPORT DUMPED UNTAXED VEHICLE.

THE MOT AND INSURANCE YOU CANT FIND OUT.

YOU COULD TRY LEAVING A NOTE.

OTHER WISE YOU WILL HAVE TO EXAGGERATE THE GETTING OUT OF YOUR DRIVE. ( MAKE SURE YOU ARE PARKED ON YOUR DRIVE AS THE POLICE WILL NOT BE BOTHERED IF YOU CANNOT GET INTO YOUR DRIVE!).

JUST OVER A WEEK MAYBE SOMEONE HAS JUST PURCHASED IT IN THE ROAD, AND IN PROCESS OF CHANGING OWNERSHIP.

DON'T MAKE DIFFICULT TO GET OUT IF YOU CALL POLICE YOU MUST NOT BE ABLE TO GET OUT

Answer 4

usually 2 to  3 days. call your local city to find out the local laws.

Answer 5

Provided it complies with all relevant laws, there's no limit.

Answer 6

Contrary to what is said here, no one has the right to  park on a street, regardless of tax/mot/insurance.  This vehicle has been abandoned ( are you near a airport/port) if not then surely not on holiday.  Report it to the police.  Who knows what is inside this vehicle. It could be used for a getaway vehicle in a few days, could have bomb equipment inside ( who knows, especially in this day and age).  It might have been in a robbery, or the obvious one here is it's stolen.  my parents house overlooks a car park.  A BMW was parked up against a wall.  My dad looked at this car every night when he went to bed.  After 3 weeks he phoned the police and when they went to see it, it had been stolen 3 weeks prior....

Tell us how you get on

Answer 7

best thing is to leave a note,   could be on holiday  anything....

Answer 8

As long as it is taxed and not causing an obstruction, or breaking parking rules, it can be parked there indefinitely.

If it appears to be abandoned you can inform the local council. They will normally put a note on it to see if someone responds. I did this with an abandoned car on the estate where I live. Turned out it was stolen.

But otherwise, it's perfectly legal.

Answer 9

IF:

It is taxed.

It is on a road with no parking restrictions

It is not contravening any other road ordinances (ie, not directly blocking a drive, not within 10 yards of a junction, etc)

then it is perfectly legal to leave there until the tax runs out

{edit} providing the three points, above, are covered, the council will not want to know. You could ask the police to check to see if it is registered as stolen, but otherwise it cannot be considered abandoned..... (for goodness sake, common sense will tell you that! the owner may be on a 2 week holiday abroad or something!)

{edit 2} In the UK..... to be PARKED, on a public street a car does not need to be MOT'd or insured

it ONLY needs Road Tax

As long as it is not DRIVEN without these, then no offense is being committed

{edit 1 day later} - this question interested me. I was pretty sure of my facts, but was talking to a friend (a police officer) so I brought it up in conversation.

He verified that a car ONLY needs tax, to be parked on a street, as long as it is parked legally... It does not need insurance or MOT if it is not driven.

If you ring your local nick, they may run a check on the car to see if it is stolen or of interest to them in. If not, then they would not be concerned about a car after only 1 week.

That is correct.... that is what I wrote yesterday..... and it just goes to show how much the 'thumbs down' brigade are worth

Answer 10

As long as it is taxed it can stay there as long as the owners want.

However, if you report it to the Police as "Abandoned" they will look into it.

Answer 11

type askmid into your computer , this is a site with everyones vehicle insurance details. it will tell you if the vehicle is insured, if it is'nt  it should not be on the road. If it is too bad ,it can stay till it rusts away.