So if you see someone stealing your neighbours car, you would mind your own business?
Or someone getting raped or murdered eh?
I think the reality is that most people would rather not live in a society where people spy on and report their neighbours to the authorities.
Societies where people feel an obligation to spy on and report their neighbours, work colleagues, etc, have and do exist. They tend not to be very pleasant societies.
Leave it to the relevant authorities to deal with law enforcement, ordinary citizens don't need to be involved and it's what they pay their taxes for, even if they are law-abiding themselves.
Most reasonable people would have no trouble in making a distinction between the moral justification of reporting crimes taking place, such as burglary and murder, and reporting possible violations of highway restrictions.
If it's untaxed, and you're a grass, then you can grass them to the dvla. They have an entire page for it
https://www.gov.uk/report-untaxed-vehicle
I can't help but feel there are some double standards on display here. If somebody came and dumped some - potentially contaminated - scrap metal on your street you'd feel rightly aggreived and seek to have the situation resolved. The fact that the pile of scrap is currently in the shape of a car makes it different though?
If it's not taxed / mot then it's not insured and the council will lift it. If it has tax and an MOT then they will leave it
I mean there could be a firearm in the glove box, BMW isn't it. It's only a matter of time before it spreads to a gypsy encampment, fly tipping, scrap metal as far as the eye can see, MX tracks in back gardens, students moving in next-door and all night raves/gathering of the Juggalos!
Nice touch stalking their social media.
If it's not taxed / mot then it's not insured and the council will lift it. If it has tax and an MOT then they will leave it
This... it's been 11 days for christs sake, how do you even know it's an expired mot unless you are a bit of a fruit cake?
dumped some - potentially contaminated - scrap metal on your street
This is ironic right?
last week I got a parking ticket because someone from down my street reported me for having an expired residents parking permit.
To be fair, this is rubbish. The point of residents' parking is to restrict parking to residents only. You're still a resident even if your permit expires.
Leave it to the relevant authorities to deal with law enforcement, ordinary citizens don't need to be involved and it's what they pay their taxes for, even if they are law-abiding themselves.
This but of course you're free to enjoy the privilege of the dilemma. Embrace the quandry, align your chakras take a deep breath, and DECIDE!
This... it's been 11 days for christs sake, how do you even know it's an expired mot unless you are a bit of a fruit cake?
First, it takes 30 seconds to check if a vehicle is MOTd and taxed using a quaint modern invention called the internet. For reasons best known to herself - perhaps because she doesn't spend time on STW - my missus looked up the status of next door's car.
Second, for the umpeenth time, for the benefit of those who cannot be bothered to read what I've previously posted:
I AM NOT AND NEVER HAVE BEEN ABOUT TO REPORT MY NEIGHBOUR'S CAR FOR SITTING ON THE STREET WITH NO TAX OR MOT.
Is it really so difficult to grasp the idea that a thread asking for opinions on a scenario posted out of curiosity over the breadth of opinions on an internet forum full of mildly cross people is not the same as actually saying you favour doing something quite unpleasant?
There's a certain irony about people, who are essentially sat, wasting time on the internet, having a pop at someone who's simply curious about whether the motionless car sat that's been sat outside their house for six months, is taxed and MoTed.
For the record, if I were really concerned/inconvenienced, I would knock on and ask next door what was going on with the car and whether there was anything I could do to help if there was a problem - eg: recommend a local MoT place / mechanic etc - but it's not my problem and they have lots going on with kids, dog, life etc.
It's kind of telling that no-one on this entire thread has actually suggesting talking to the neighbours. It's all either 'shop them now' or 'you're an evil, curtain-twitching bastard'. There's precious little evidence of any awareness that they may be, you know, actual human beings.
Edit: blimey, I can actually see my own post immediately complete with shouty formatting options. Totally spoilt by the hamsters 🙂
I'm just glad I don't live on the same street as the OP or his neighbour... sometimes people deserve each other.
A very fair point 🤣
For the record, if I were really concerned/inconvenienced, I would knock on and ask next door what was going on with the car and whether there was anything I could do to help if there was a problem - eg: recommend a local MoT place / mechanic etc - but it's not my problem and they have lots going on with kids, dog, life etc.
It's kind of telling that no-one on this entire thread has actually suggesting talking to the neighbours. It's all either 'shop them now' or 'you're an evil, curtain-twitching bastard'. There's precious little evidence of any awareness that they may be, you know, actual human beings.
You probably ought to read your own thread, as @brian2 did in fact suggest talking to them 🙂
Missed that, was too busy being cross and waiting hours for posts to actually appear 🙄
Standards on here are slipping, 2 pages on nothing and no mention of frozen sausages or bumming dogs.
I'd have no problem shopping them. 🙂
If this car wasn't a car but was, I dunno, a skip or a sofa, would you just let it sit there potentially obstructing other road users (vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, people pushing prams or wheelchair users) and/or clogging up a parking spot for another resident or local business?
Of course not, but cars get a *free pass* for some reason...
I'm getting increasingly militant about people who consider the "public highway" as a dumping ground to leave their vehicles in "their spot" and blocking traffic or using it as justification for not installing bike lanes...
(Granted, I live in an area where the majority of houses have their own garages AND drives, yet residents use their garage space for things other than storing their cars, and/or have so many vehicles that they overspill onto the streets AND the residents also have the temerity to complain about visitors parking outside! This situation may not apply to BWD... 😀 )
So if it’s not causing you a problem...
Hmm. I reckon this is a bit of a frog in a boiling pot situation. I'd argue that the number of cars occupying roads and pavements are a massive problem, and at the very least are some form of inconvenience to almost everybody on a daily basis. In the grand scheme of things, even the highest vehicle tax bands make for cheap rental on the the space they occupy when parked in the street. Personally, I wouldn't be bothering if it's only been a couple of weeks, but it is a bit of a piss take to think you can dump 2 tonnes of metal wherever you like at no cost.
Cheers for all the input. After a lot of soul-searching, I firebombed the bastard car. I did feel slightly guilty over the public expenditure incurred - police, fire brigade, road repairs, recovery of smouldering carcass (sic) etc - but there was no 'snitching' or awkward interactions with next door and no real ethical dilemmas. As a bonus, it saves the neighbours from either having to tax or MoT the vehicle or, hopefully from any sort of fine.
A big thanks for the many helpful replies to this thread, which did help me come to a decision. I'd like to emphasise that there was no 'grassing' or 'snitching' here, I didn't watch the car burning in a 'curtain-twitching' sort of way and there were no frozen sausages or dogs involved.
Hopefully that brings this thread to a satisfactory and ethically sound conclusion and frees up a parking space in our somewhat overcrowded street.
Not sure if my reply a few days ago appeared but if no MOT and no tax just report it on the local council website and they will remove it.
I live in a very quiet place and we often get abandoned cars (sometimes stolen cars as well) - the council are efficient at moving them once there is no tax / MOT. I must have reported about 5-10 of them over the years.
Remember broken window theory, keep where you live clean.
I firebombed the bastard car.
Well that's not going to dampen their conspiracy theorist tendencies. Poor ****ers.
I firebombed the bastard car.
Well that's not going to dampen their conspiracy theorist tendencies. Poor ****ers.
A fair observation and you're probably right, but it's a bit late now. I'll bear it mind next time
it is a bit of a piss take to think you can dump 2 tonnes of metal wherever you like at no cost.
Aye. And if you suggested you wanted to put a bike hangar on the street in the same place...
Cars seem to be the only private possessions we offer open-ended public storage for.
yet residents use their garage space for things other than storing their cars,
I do have some sympathy here. Cars are increasingly getting larger, but garages and parking spaces are not.
If it's not taxed / mot then it's not insured and the council will lift it. If it has tax and an MOT then they will leave it
This... it's been 11 days for christs sake, how do you even know it's an expired mot unless you are a bit of a fruit cake?
There is a handy dandy website you can put a numberplate into and it tells you the tax and insurance state. Given how long it takes my local council to act (several months) the quicker you report the quicker the car is gone. We had one that started to be used by people for dumping rubbish in as the doors were open. The rain had gotten in and it was rotting from the inside out. Now I never let them get that long
I mused about extracting the number plates from the video of my cycle to work and seeing what % popped up as untaxed and uninsured and seeing of there was a correlation on postcode - a project for when I have time
Cheers for all the input. After a lot of soul-searching, I firebombed the bastard car.
Oh.....you know what you need now - the fire starter badge! Would look awesome next to the other one*. 😀
*Which I misnamed (seemingly, to great offence) the 'curtain twitcher' badge. It is of course officially known as the 'Neighbourhood watch' badge....even though that's not what the plod like to call it.
There is a handy dandy website you can put a numberplate into and it tells you the tax and insurance state.
Problematic after the fire. I should have made a note of it first 😕
I mused about extracting the number plates from the video of my cycle to work and seeing what % popped up as untaxed and uninsured and seeing of there was a correlation on postcode - a project for when I have time
There was a chap in (I think) Hull who used to post videos on Twitter who did this. The numbers were... alarming.
The roads need to be littered with ANPR cameras to scoop up all the vehicles that have no tax, MOT and/or insurance.
Meh, one of the local ‘car flippers’ used to get around a non legal car by loading it onto an old shed (but road legal) of a flatbed Transit. More of an eyesore and bigger but as far as I know legal.
A few more streets away a house did have a flatbed, the entire length of their driveway with a truck on it. Glad they aren’t my neighbours.
No I absolutely wouldn’t poke my nose into the legality or otherwise of a neighbour’s parked car., if it didn’t cause issues.
...until this bit. Don't know why I get completely triggered by conspiracy theorists but I do.
Just because it's a conspiracy it doesn't mean it's not true......
There is a handy dandy website you can put a numberplate into and it tells you the tax and insurance state.
I mostly WFH in the front bedroom so have a bird's eye view of the school run schenanigans outside our house - if I see anyone parking on the yellow lines, the grass verge (with no parking signs) or on the pavement, it warms my cold heart to report them to the council. I also check for tax and MOT, and report for that, too. Once had someone park on our drive, and I would have paid to have had something to report that scrote for (beyond leaving the arse-end of his car over the pavement).
Anecdotally, there is WAY less dick parking, and far fewer untaxed, un-MOT'd cars round here than there were a couple of years ago. Now, I don't believe for a moment that my actions have in any way played a meaningful part in that shift, but whatever the cause, it's quite nice to think that people round here have a lower percentage of dick than they used to, so to speak. 🙂
If it's not blocking you, or causing you issue, why do you need to do anything about it, at all?
🙄
I think that's been covered pretty comprehensively. But in summary, didn't, wouldn't, firebombed it.
Out of interest those "it's none of your business and not causing you any harm" neighbors. Where exactly would you draw that line, given that this example is already illegal?
I'm not implying that having an untaxed car is a gateway crime into child sex trafficking or terrorism. But neither of those crimes would directly affect me or you either. So at what point do you act for the greater good of society?
Where exactly would you draw that line, given that this example is already illegal
That is a fair question, unlike some of the comments made in this thread.
You can take the attitude that it is your job to report every bit of illegal activity: somebody driving with a broken tail light, or doing 35 in a 30 limit, or putting unwashed bottles in their recycling bin, or riding their bike on a footpath . . . .
But unless you want to spend your life as a professional busybody, and/or piss off all your neighbours, you have to draw the line somewhere. For the law enforcement authorities this is called discretion.
In the specific example the OP gave the car had been untaxed for only a couple of weeks and was parked in a place that does not pose a danger to anyone else. I would give them a month or so to sort it out themselves, then my next step would be to have a neighbourly chat with them about it, mainly focused on the fact that somebody is going to report as abandoned sooner or later, or the DVLA will be onto them for the lack of SORN, so they would be wise to park it off road or tax it.
Where exactly would you draw that line, given that this example is already illegal?
Is it actually causing any harm to anybody? Being illegal doesn't necessarily mean anyone is being harmed, just that a rule has been broken.
Someone has parked an old car and it isn't causing a problem and you're wondering if you should call the police?
I'm wondering as since this thread started the DVLA have been round to our village and clamped someone's Micra for not being taxed so I came back to the thread to refresh my memory what sort of car was in the OP 🤣
And had a debate with someone in the club over reporting an "unsafe" pass on the clubrun. They'd been behind us long enough that the person now reporting really should have just pulled in a bit and let them past. For context I think they'd been behind us up a very narrow lane which then went through a junction and widens out but not enough to get a central white line.
They accelerated past and (IMO) accidentally got their offside wheels in the opposite muddy verge sending a huge plume of mud and debris under the van and into the road (it was quite a tall full-size transit with lots of ground clearance) .
The video makes it look pretty bad, and by the book it would be driving without due care and attention, and could have gone much worse (I'm surprised he didn't end up losing control). But at the end of the day he'd been patient, the road was wide enough, he gave as much, in fact more, room than was possible At the end of the day what is going to be achieved, he'll give less room in future? Get a dashcam himself and report the club for riding without due care and attention for not singling out to allow a safe overtake?
Someone has parked an old car and it isn't causing a problem and you're wondering if you should call the police?
No, I was wondering what STW forum users would do, which is a subtly - apparently incomprehensibly - different question. As I've said about 20 times now, I had and have no intention of doing anything as the car is just sat there minding its own business. I even said this in giant, bold BLOCK CAPITALS somewhere on the previous page, I think.
I was curious.
And true to form, there were a few 'dob 'em in now, they are Satan' takes, along with a lot more 'mind your own business, who do you think you are, the bloody Stasi?' ones. There were also some quite thoughtful, replies which were a little more nuanced and people raising parallel situations.
My personal take, which hasn't changed, is that given that the car isn't a danger to anyone, has only been sat there untaxed for a couple of weeks, and our neighbours are mostly decent enough, that it's basically none of my business and reporting it would be odd. I assume that the DVLA know that it's not taxed or MoTed and hasn't been SORNed, so presumably at some point will take appropriate action. But that's nothing to do with me.
If it were an issue for me, say it was directly outside my house and blocking access, I'd actually - shock, horror! - talk to the neighbours and ask them politely if they could move it further down the street. There's a certain irony here in that they go slightly bonkers if anyone parks outside their house, but again, I don't really care about that.
Anyway, thanks for all the responses, which helped me come to the decision that fire-bombing the car was the way forward. Please don't report me to the police... 😉
