Do you cut nice people more slack? Neighbours again.

Newish neighbour, seems like a nice bloke just trying to get by-keeps to himself and no bother at all. Apart from the fact that he has a DAF 45 pickup for his own business which he keeps parking either in the street or on his driveway; often right outside the school causing an obstruction and limited visibility of children crossing.

I’m fairly confident that it’s not actually ok to do this and would need an operators license and be kept at a suitable premise when not in use. Anyone know the score on this?

If he was a real idiot I’d have probably kicked up more fuss by now but as he’s not, I’m more live and let live.

Does being nice make things ok?

It’s the nice ones you have to watch

He’s probably a serial killer

Best torch his pick up just to be on the safe side

If you bring it up with him he’ll know who dobbed him in if you report it…

If it’s directly outside a school causing obstruction maybe the headteacher could have a quiet word with the local policing team.

he keeps parking either in the street or on his driveway; often right outside the school causing an obstruction and limited visibility of children crossing.

Is it actually parked illegally…? as in according to road markings etc, or do you just not personally like it?

I’d be inclined to live and let live.

Edit..Sorry you said pickup…a DAF 45 is a small lorry, not a pickup if you mean this kind of thing?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/truck-details/202407121699238

Thats a bit off…

Not worth bothering, where else is he going to park it? If it means parking it on another street he probably isn’t going to so id not even start the conversation. Not worth the effort.

where else is he going to park it?

Unless someone knows otherwise a vehicle that size needs an operators license and should be parked at a premise approved for it. If that’s not the case then 100% on me to shut up and put up.

Are they breaking the law, by the sounds of it no, lots of folk like this around, we have a couple on our estates running man with a van companies, pain in the arse for visibility, but legally parked and taxed/MoT’d.

If you want to do a bit of grassing, you can just email the council about it and see what they’ll do, from my daughters school, they do absolutely nothing.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/goods-vehicle-operator-licensing-guide#:~:text=You%20will%20usually%20need%20a,with%20a%20trade%20or%20business.

Im sure it does happen everywhere-doesn’t mean it should if I’m understanding the requirements. But then back to my point-is it okay if the person is nice.

If it was tax avoidance instead would you be more likely to grass up someone you didn’t like and let it slide for others?

Not a van, it’s a 7.5 tonne HGV, so there’s a bit more to it than just tax/MOT/legal parking.

Calling it a pickup is a bit misleading, that there is a truck.

For me I think it’s almost all about whether it’s actually a problem. Loads of people around me have large vehicles at home- massive campers, but also a load of flatbed recovery vehicles and big work vans and such. Some of em definitely feel a bit too much, but they’re very rarely actually a problem. The one dude that constantly jams up his road so that it’s hard to get through, that’s a problem. (couldn’t get a fire engine or probably even an ambulance past, not cool). Near a school crossing, that’s a problem, blocking a pavement, problem. But it’s not the vehicle even then, it’s just exactly where they’re putting it.

The thing here is, if he can put it on his driveway why doesn’t he? That takes it behond “nice people” for me, it’s one thing if there’s nowhere else for it to go, another if he could have it off the road and doesn’t. Though maybe his neighbour disagrees.

Is the school not protected with zig zag road markings? Or are you talking about a pedestrian crossing used by kids/school patrol? We’ve a 30′ motorhome in the area, owner keeps moving its parking spot, but it too often ends up parked very close to corners, making it a hazard.

Looks like your street has become an ‘operation centre’. Might be a nice bloke but is he behaving like one? I’d be getting all nimby about that. Plus you’ve got a dirty great diesel engine being started up at what hours and kicking out all those fumes in a residential area. **** that for a game of soldiers.

Not a van, it’s a 7.5 tonne HGV, so there’s a bit more to it than just tax/MOT/legal parking.

Not seeing that through the road legislation (if standard DAF 45 it’ll be C&U Regs compliant), the operator’s license again is just to carry goods in that class, nothing about parking, and the fact the OP hasn’t mentioned wavy lines or the likes makes it sound like it’s legally parked, i.e. facing traffic and so on.

If you’re going to go to the council or the likes, you need a valid reason, and then the council will need to designate that location appropriately to stop any parking on it

Are they breaking the law

If he’s parking overnight on the highway without sidelights on then yes, yes he is. (Personal experience of a hire 7.5T vehicle that received a £60 ticket for such an offence).

EDIT And he’s not a nice person if he’s parking an LGV outside a school.

I have never seen a school not marked up to stop illegal parking, it would be chaos if they didn’t, so the right outside a school for me means the vans on the school road further down in a legal parking area, or as the OP states, on his own driveway.

As for parking lights, yes, that’s about it, and if he gets a fine he’ll then put them on in future i’d guess, none of the DAFs i’ve seen around here have theirs on, christ i”ve not seen anyone do it, same goes for other motor vehicles in different scenarios doing the same.

So all you need to say is “don’t forget to put the lights on when you leave it on the road mate”, job done.

So all you need to say is “don’t forget to put the lights on when you leave it on the road mate”, job done.

Think he’s on about the visibility for children crossing nearby, and by the sounds of it, the OP doesn’t want to actually talk to the neighbour directly either.

Wavy lines on one side of the school, single yellows and parking restrictions on the other where he often parks. I suspect if there was anyone around to enforce those restrictions then he’d get hit on that, but there isn’t.

Q. From the gov link shared above

 Holders of heavy goods vehicle licences are required to specify an operating centre(s) at which vehicles will usually be kept when not in use.

I would take that to mean that it should be parked there most nights and not every night in a residential area, but is that legally enforceable?

And no, not interested in creating tension with him if I’m just being ignorant of the rules and he’s not in doing anything wrong.

but is that legally enforceable

The traffic commissioners will be the enforcement authority.

If the vehicle has a full O-license, then it should normally be parked at the registered operating centre.

I can’t remember the rules around restricted O-licenses though.

However it might be exempt depending on how it’s actually used, or they may just be running without an O-licence, in which the DVSA/local Traffic Commissioner will be very interested.

No help here, but I’m pretty sure premise (an idea or theory on which a statement or action is based) is not the singular of premises (the land and buildings owned by someone, especially by a company or organization). Err, let his tyres down or something?

He can park the lorry in residential streets – even if it’s Operators says where it’s base is somewhere else, but it should only be ‘occasionally’. HWC 243 should mean he can’t park it near a school. These days, some drivers are self employed, even when working for major [and liveried] firms. It might be his own truck and has nowhere else to park it you might want to cut him some slack, it’s a pretty relentless occupation. You could broach the subject by talking to him about parking near the school maybe?

5 years in jail, that I’ll sort him.

As long as I’m not inconvienced in anyway 😉

And the answer to your question is Yes!

We all need to rub along much better in this world! ASAP.

I’m sorry but unless someone is committing an egregious offence, mind your own business.

Years ago my parents neighbours ran a greengrocer business. They kept a 7.5 t curtain side on their drive or in the street.
The council made them shift it. On the drive it plunged their other neighbours garden into darkness and on the road wasn’t allowed. He was a bit of a dick but moved it to the local small business park.

To add to the above, I seem to remember the rumour was the neighbours to their right reported it to the council. I don’t believe the council revealed who dobbed him in.

My parents may have done as well but didn’t say as such. It’s possible your other neighbours may already have got the hump.

It’s pretty crap having an LGV dumped in a residential street, or driveway, offence or not.

I’m sorry but unless someone is committing an egregious offence, mind your own business.

As the LGV is parked on the OP’s street it is his business. No man is an island, ever!

It would piss me right off! But then my house has no frontage.

My road is simply too narrow to park something like that on it so thankfully it’s never likely to be an issue.