Newtown Church Morning Parking Rant

obriea3

This has annoyed me for some time.
I drive past Newtown Church between 07:15 and 07:45 most mornings. At the moment there is obviously a morning mass on at this time and all the cars are parked outside, ON THE ROAD. It really annoys me that these people are allowed to park there illegally, but I normally just get on with it.

However this morning I nearly had an accident. It is necessary to drive in the middle of the road as you go around the turn as normally there is some ****e parked just outside the church. This morning as I go around the turn a car coming from the opposite side nearly bashed into me. In fairness the other guy was driving as he should....I was the one in the middle of the road!

I was tempted to get out and leave a note on the prats car who was parked illegally, but I didn;t......it would just be somebody else tomorrow morning.

There my rant is over!!!

south

How are they parked illegally?

obriea3

south wrote: »

How are they parked illegally?

Parked on the road and in the bus lane.

wmpdd3

It makes no sence as theres a carpark there! The bus lane is only at certain times, not that that evey makes any difference out there.

fricatus

Wardens should go down there and ticket them all... They'd soon learn.

Unfortunately then though you'd have every oul' Biddy and Holy Joe in the town ringing in to Billy McCarthy about the disgraceful treatment of pensioners going to Mass!

Some people seem to think they can ignore the law of the land while they worship their deity... the moral superiority gets laid on with a trowel in these discussions. It isn't long before someone trots out Mass Rocks, Catholic Emancipation and the heathen British occupiers when making their argument!

south

it's only a bus lane from 8 till 10 as far as I know.

obriea3

south wrote: »

it's only a bus lane from 8 till 10 as far as I know.

Possibly so, i dont know if it's legal until 8. However it's just plain dangerous the way people are parking in my opinion.

Nypd

It's the praying that will get them not the parking

old gregg

I love how folks hit that church and the one at the end of the folly to be absolved of their sins while committing parking offences. They walk out feeling washed clean by the blood of the lamb, oblivious to their status as lawbreakers.

Sully

You can park on the bus lane for most of the day, only during certain periods is is restricted. I assume its to facilitate residents.

nkay1985

obriea3 wrote: »

Possibly so, i dont know if it's legal until 8. However it's just plain dangerous the way people are parking in my opinion.

Yep, as Sully said, this is only a bus lane at certain times and can be used for parking outside these hours. I certainly don't agree with your assertion that you have to drive in the middle of the road to go around the bend. The only way that would be the case is if someone parked with their car jutting out a significant amount from the bus lane? Is this the case? Because if they're just in the bus lane, they're not at fault.

calvin_zola

Big f**king deal, drive slower in future, anticipate that you are coming to potential hazard (as you said you come past it most mornings) as there are a few cars parked in a bus lane at their designated time, wait for a clear opening and continue on when you have right of way , anticipate that cars may come against you so be ready with the break.... the whole situation should delay you by 35 - 40 seconds.

And if its upsetting you so much, maybe you should have left a note on the persons car like you contemplated. The person may be oblivious to the obstruction albeit minor thery are causing and your note may lead them to park elsewhere in the future, it would be more effective if you let the person know, rather than taking the time to highlight it to a few heads on boards.

CardBordWindow

Ah sure Lent will be over on Sunday, so that mass won't be on next week! Try not crash your car until then.

Odats

Also AFAIK from working up in the area the car park for the church is around half designated as disabled parking spaces which would affect people parking in the church grounds.

Nothing against disabled parking spaces and it is also probably a deterrent against people parking there for the day either for work reasons or a stroll into down to get away with pay parking.

deisemum

Odats wrote: »

Also AFAIK from working up in the area the car park for the church is around half designated as disabled parking spaces which would affect people parking in the church grounds.

Nothing against disabled parking spaces and it is also probably a deterrent against people parking there for the day either for work reasons or a stroll into down to get away with pay parking.

There's a big car pack behind the church, think it has 50 or so spaces and the disabled spaces are at the front of the church.

deisemum

fricatus wrote: »

Wardens should go down there and ticket them all... They'd soon learn.

Unfortunately then though you'd have every oul' Biddy and Holy Joe in the town ringing in to Billy McCarthy about the disgraceful treatment of pensioners going to Mass!

Some people seem to think they can ignore the law of the land while they worship their deity... the moral superiority gets laid on with a trowel in these discussions. It isn't long before someone trots out Mass Rocks, Catholic Emancipation and the heathen British occupiers when making their argument!

That's already happened a few years ago but it was the later mass, 9.30am or 10am or some mass around that time. The traffic warden went and put tickets on a lot of cars that were parked on the double yellow lines and the mass goers were on to Billy McCarthy about it, thinking they shouldn't have got tickets because they were at mass.

I think there are double yellow lines on the bends of the bus lane but some of the mass goers park in a dangerous manner anyway and some have a death wish and just step out into the road without looking.

obriea3

calvin_zola wrote: »

Big f**king deal, drive slower in future, anticipate that you are coming to potential hazard (as you said you come past it most mornings) as there are a few cars parked in a bus lane at their designated time, wait for a clear opening and continue on when you have right of way , anticipate that cars may come against you so be ready with the break.... the whole situation should delay you by 35 - 40 seconds.

And if its upsetting you so much, maybe you should have left a note on the persons car like you contemplated. The person may be oblivious to the obstruction albeit minor thery are causing and your note may lead them to park elsewhere in the future, it would be more effective if you let the person know, rather than taking the time to highlight it to a few heads on boards.

Jasus steady on boy!
I do drive slow, I do anticipate hazards etc etc. I'm certainly not going to stop every morning and put a note on multiple cars!!!!
Also its not a minor obstruction. Cars are parked there in the bus lane on one side and in the cycle lane on the other side. If they are oblivious to the obstruction then they really shouldn't be driving in the first place in my opinion. I think that they are aware of the obstruction, probably don't care as going to mass is more important to them.
BTW your right, its not a big deal. However it is annoying, even if only for a small few seconds in the morning.

Anyway, as pointed out by another on this thread, easter is here thank god.....loads of chocolate and hopefully an end to the morning mass.