Holding Parking Space by Standing in It

Lpegasusx on 16/10/2018 - 13:25
Last edited 16/10/2018 - 15:30 by 1 other user

First time I've experienced this yesterday whilst parking inside Westfield. The green light on the ceiling lead me to a vacant space and as I pulled up, a man was standing in the space waving at me. He was on the mobile so initially thought he has mistaken my car. Waited for about 10 secs and realised he was waving me away! Finally dawned on me that he was holding the space for someone else. Basically called dibs on a space.

At this point, a number of thoughts and options went passed my mind, but I choose to drop off my wife/infant close to the shopping entrance and drive to look for another space.

Any one else come across this in Australia? I've been to a few other countries, i.e. Italy / Hongkong where I've seen this happen. Just never experienced it myself in Aus.

I understand that it's perfectly legal, just looked down upon as bad manners.

Automotive Parking

Comments

      • pennypincha on 18/10/2018 - 06:53
        +3

        Exited my car via the boot.

        You sir, deserve some kind of award.

        • raymosaurus on 20/10/2018 - 12:55

          GTFO of Australia.

        • Omitsukasa on 20/10/2018 - 14:43

          It's precisely that I drive a tiny shitbox i have no qualms about squeezing next to cars that are parked over two spaces.

  • Seraphin7 on 16/10/2018 - 16:09
    +2

    I'd park in the spot. No reservations.

    It's the same with these types that like to reserve street parking for whatever reason, usually by putting out cones/chairs/whatever. They typically find their markers "neatly" deposited on the nature strip.

    • zathras on 17/10/2018 - 18:18
      +1

      Me too, I hate those guys that put out their cones to reserve a street park.
      Just because they drive a hearse they think they can just always park in front of the church…

  • TheBilly on 16/10/2018 - 16:29

    Reverse park slowly and pretend you didnt see them… Your nationality makes it more justifiable !

  • djones145 on 16/10/2018 - 16:30
    +1

    record it, send to news.com.au or place on youtube

    • serpserpserp on 16/10/2018 - 19:57
      +1

      dailymail

    • burningrage on 16/10/2018 - 22:21
      +2

      Actually this is a good idea. Calling it out and sell the video/picture to news, todaytonight, etc OR put in on youtube and you'll hope to get viral and earn some cash from youtube ads.

      • orangetrain on 17/10/2018 - 08:39

        Until it gets taken down by the main channels for copyright infringement and held monies over a period of time goes to them.

  • Topdog on 16/10/2018 - 16:32
    +2

    tell him to (profanity) right off, then just hold the horn as you are parking.

  • Illian on 16/10/2018 - 16:32
    +2

    I've never seen this before, I hope not to, what a shameless display. I agree with forcing your way in anyway, I have dash cams front and back so it would all be recorded.

  • Godric on 16/10/2018 - 16:41
    +7

    Can you illustrate this scenario in MS Paint please

    • kurisu on 16/10/2018 - 18:47
      +76

      Based on their description, I imagine it would've looked something like this.

      • Godric on 16/10/2018 - 18:51
        +2

        My ribs! Into the bookmarks she goes.

        Also why is OP a cyclops? haha

      • [Deactivated] on 17/10/2018 - 09:23
        +3

        That's incredibly racist.

        Black always in the background never in front.

      • msmhw on 17/10/2018 - 11:06
        +1

        You just made my day, I can’t stop laughing.
        Haha thanks

      • illz on 17/10/2018 - 14:35

        HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

        TEARS!!!

      • SupeNintendoChalmers on 17/10/2018 - 15:33
        +2

        Sometimes I think OB needs the equivalent of Reddit Gold.

        • kurisu on 17/10/2018 - 16:49

          The problem is that most people on here would be too cheap to ever pay for it. I did get a silver Popular Comment badge though, so that's something. I had to laugh about the information on silver badges:

          These are awarded when you have done something useful on OzBargain.

  • bobbified on 16/10/2018 - 17:00
    +3

    I hate it when people do that.

    I've had thoughts of just running them over, but I always just leave before a little voice in my head tells me that it's a great idea! lol

    There's just no point arguing, especially if you're going to be leaving your car there afterwards. It gives the dick a good chance to get revenge on your car after you walk away.

    • h4zey on 17/10/2018 - 10:14
      +2

      park somewhere else, come back and smash their car

      • blehgg on 17/10/2018 - 10:55

        park somewhere else, come back and stand in their spot ~ and refuse to move.

      • bobbified on 17/10/2018 - 10:59

        There's no point unless you're willing to wait around for them to come back to see the look on their faces!

  • elgrande on 16/10/2018 - 17:25
    +9

    Perhaps the guys car was stolen and he was on the phone to the police. He did not want you to park there or it would contaminate the crime scene. You did the right thing by driving away, you wouldnt want to implicate yourself in the crime.

    • blehgg on 17/10/2018 - 11:14

      But I just wanted to return his car, after robbing a bank…

      Why won't he let me return his car!

  • BargainBobcat on 16/10/2018 - 17:33

    I hope the rules a clarified as someone may get hurt - there is alot of road rage these days…

  • Ughhh on 16/10/2018 - 17:41
    +1

    As the man hogging the space, wouldn't you be worried about others coming back to key your car or hit it with a trolley? Unless you have a shitbox.

  • O15 on 16/10/2018 - 18:46

    Reminds me of this idiot.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ3JnxkZxJg

    Drop some tacks behind their tyres.

    • raymosaurus on 20/10/2018 - 13:02
      +1

      I am saddened that they backed down. "You're not even in a car, woman!"

  • Ace26 on 16/10/2018 - 18:50
    +1

    Experienced this in Strathfield NSW 2135 about 5 or so years ago for the first time. Young Asian Lady was holding the spot and wouldn't move.
    Since, then I have seen this happen on many occasions in high traffic shopping centres. I don't bother arguing with them anymore.

    • serpserpserp on 16/10/2018 - 20:05
      +3

      I love your important use of capitals.

    • Faulty on 16/10/2018 - 20:19
      +1

      I just slowly creep my car forwards until they surrender, or have their legs pulverised between my car & the on in-front and the and the tow-bar of the car in-front is up their ass. You can see the pucker factor on their face at that time haha

      • GaryQ on 17/10/2018 - 14:09
        +1

        I have exactly the world weary attitude and crappy car to make this a reality

    • HangryCakeStore on 17/10/2018 - 14:57
      -4

      Funny you only mention asian, same race for all occasions? or is you just like to remember when an asian does something impolite. I constantly seeing a trend of racial hating in Australia

  • nahi11 on 16/10/2018 - 19:14
    -2

    Asians

    nahi11 on 16/10/2018 - 19:14 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
  • zooter on 16/10/2018 - 19:18
    -4

    was either of the cars a 80K high yield investment? I guess that car gets priority then

  • [Deactivated] on 16/10/2018 - 19:26

    This was common in London 25 years ago…..time to move somewhere less congested or get used to it!
    I have to slow down for cows on the road these days, much prefer it!

    • serpserpserp on 16/10/2018 - 20:06

      But if that cow dare stands in a westfield parking spot, watch out!

  • Herbse on 16/10/2018 - 19:31

    It's fun watching people fight over car parks that are in the middle of the road in Melbourne.
    Cars from either side can't see the other person that wants the spot, then when it's available, they both creep in and start yelling at each other.

  • citybargainhunter on 16/10/2018 - 19:41

    Maybe he pissed on it

  • Kranbone on 16/10/2018 - 19:54

    So if he gets the space, he's probably going to do it again.

    …if you ran him over, he most likely won't. Hmmm, I know which choice I'd make (that being said, I'd do it subtley).

    • Hybroid on 16/10/2018 - 20:08

      The one that doesn't involve him getting up and keying your car "accidentally".

  • Donaldhump on 16/10/2018 - 20:04

    Get out and lay a cable and smear it the same spot the tyres are likely to go

  • serpserpserp on 16/10/2018 - 20:08
    +14

    Go park the car in another spot, walk down to his spot and stand in it with him on your phone. See how many people you can attract.

  • gimli on 16/10/2018 - 20:11

    Annoying, just one of those things with driving these day unfortunately

  • [Deactivated] on 16/10/2018 - 20:27
    +3

    I'm pretty vindictive. I would probably tell him i'll be back in 10 to make sure someone doesn't damage his car. Then just park on the other side of the car park and move on with my life while they stress out.

  • BartholemewH on 16/10/2018 - 20:46

    I would've got on the horn so he knew to get the f out of the way. Was pretty sure that would be the defacto response?

  • cdaddy on 16/10/2018 - 21:05

    👊🏼😴

  • kaleidoscope on 16/10/2018 - 21:10
    +2

    Its not right to do that way… you can ask him to mobe away or refuse other guy he was holding it in to park because u were there first.

    Saw this on YT sometime ago.
    https://youtu.be/3JDjNKJK9P8

  • brendanm on 16/10/2018 - 21:21
    +6

    Had this at a popular waterfall carpark once. Got out and told the guy to flap off out of the spot and that I was driving into it. He said he would call the police, I told him to go ahead, then got in my car and moved into the spot. Then got out, he was rabbiting on, got my family and walked off as his car was arriving.

    Anyone that does this deserves to get run over, it is a colossal dick move.

  • pcb7 on 16/10/2018 - 21:47

    Which WESTFIELD suburb?

    • D6C1 on 17/10/2018 - 08:21
      +1

      Probably Hurstville

    • Stivo on 18/10/2018 - 11:47

      Probably Doncaster. Theres so many retards who cant drive there.

  • happirt on 16/10/2018 - 22:08
    -2

    did it have a 'no standing' sign?, they didn't call it 'no parking' for no reason….. & if it did you shouldn't be parking there anyway

  • Levathian on 16/10/2018 - 22:29
    +1

    My solution?

    Completely ignore their existence, pull up perpendicular to the spot so its blocked in, let everyone out except the driver, put car in park and sit there. If someone wants to get out from a spot either side then reverse/go forward as necessary, but make sure they can't get their car into that spot. If they confront you, you can either play sassy and tell them to leave, or play dumb and pretend you never saw them standing there.

  • Tleyx on 16/10/2018 - 22:45
    +7

    My understanding is that it is not legal because of rule 236

    236 Pedestrians not to cause a traffic hazard or obstruction. (1) A pedestrian must not cause a traffic hazard by moving into the path of a driver. (2) A pedestrian must not unreasonably obstruct the path of any driver or another pedestrian.

    Note that doesn't allow you to run them over

    • FutureTech on 17/10/2018 - 07:28
      +5

      No use, private property is a lawless place

      • Tleyx on 17/10/2018 - 09:08
        +2

        Road rules apply to road related areas otherwise road rules wouldn't apply to car parks at all and you couldn't hold people liable for crashes there which is nonsense

        (1) A
        "road related area" is any of the following:

        (c) an area that is not a road and that is open to the public and designated for use by cyclists or animals,

        • illz on 17/10/2018 - 14:45
          -1

          Actually, You can't hold people liable for crashes in private car parks. The police will do nothing.
          Maolin95 is correct.

          • [Deactivated] on 17/10/2018 - 17:55

            @illz: No Tleyx is correct as per the legislation he/she quoted. If the car park is not considered a road related area as per the definition,, then you would more correct.

  • D6C1 on 16/10/2018 - 22:47

    Was this at Hurstville? LOL

  • buckster on 16/10/2018 - 23:11
    +5

    Park somewhere else and go back in 10mins and let the tyres down

    • Kamsi on 17/10/2018 - 00:00

      If only somebody records this and put it on youtube that would make my day so awesome.

  • SpotTheOzzie on 17/10/2018 - 01:06
    +6

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBK8_7uavhg

    When a person thinks this is okay behaviour is it because they would do it back in China no one kicked up a fuss or acted like a doormat for poor behaviour?

    I can tell you in my neighbourhood I grew up in they wouldn't just let the person get away do it, they'd stick their car as far in the spot and hold the horn down while abusing the person verbally at minimum until they moved.

    • DiscoJango on 17/10/2018 - 08:46
      +3

      haha mainland chinese, scum of the earth.

      • HangryCakeStore on 17/10/2018 - 15:03
        -1

        Yes definitely. Absolutley, without them, this world would achieve total peace, clap

        don't flatter yourself

      • idonotknowwhy on 18/10/2018 - 12:52
        +1

        mainland

        I guess you're from HK then :p

      • neonlight on 20/10/2018 - 06:40

        Usually the oldies like old grumpy aunties and uncles do this too. You don't see nice looking young women doing this. Surely driver would give away spot lol. The driver would probably be ok with it and tell his girlfriend ok we move as long as the ones standing is hotter lol. Its called discrimination

        Uneducated people got no manners and China has a lot of them. That's how their society works.

        I can see HK vs China as above haha. There's a geniune reason why HK people don't like mainland Chinese. But can't do much as HK is part of China, HK needs China for its economy but don't like to accept their culture and ideals including standing in car spot. Lol

        • DiscoJango on 20/10/2018 - 10:50

          dont forget openly defecating in the street and using street/sewer oil for cooking. some 3rd world countries dont even lower to that level.

  • gimme on 17/10/2018 - 02:11
    +8

    I stopped going to shopping centres long time ago. Cesspool of everything I don't like about society and consumerism. I just use standalone supermarkets and shops and mostly OzBargain. My blood pressure and bank account thank me for it.

  • DPW on 17/10/2018 - 09:03
    +1

    It’s not “perfectly legal”.

    236 Pedestrians not to cause a traffic hazard or obstruction
    (1) A pedestrian must not cause a traffic hazard by moving into the path of a driver.
    Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
    (2) A pedestrian must not unreasonably obstruct the path of any driver or another pedestrian.
    Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units

    • Gnosh on 17/10/2018 - 10:17
      +2

      I don’t think it applies to private property.

      • humdingaling on 17/10/2018 - 12:42

        also ….whats going to happen to the pedestrian
        they going to get their license to walk revoked?

        • DPW on 17/10/2018 - 13:03

          Could get a fine

      • DPW on 17/10/2018 - 12:58

        It does, the car park is a 'road related area'
        13 What is a road related area
        (1) A road related area is any of the following:
        (a) an area that divides a road,
        (b) a footpath or nature strip adjacent to a road,
        (c) an area that is not a road and that is open to the public and designated for use by cyclists or animals,
        (d) an area that is not a road and that is open to or used by the public for driving, riding or parking vehicles.

    • trapper on 17/10/2018 - 14:11
      -2

      While I am probably on the drivers side here I need to point out a couple of things. Standing in a parking spot is not 'moving into the path of the driver' or causing a traffic hazard, and it may be perfectly reasonable.

      • brendanm on 17/10/2018 - 14:25
        -1

        It sure is "obstructing the path" of the driver though.

        • trapper on 17/10/2018 - 14:55
          -1

          Which is perfectly fine as long as it's done reasonably.

          • brendanm on 17/10/2018 - 22:28
            -1

            @trapper: No, it's not. A car parking space is for cars, not people. They are obstructing the path of the car into the parking space.

            • trapper on 18/10/2018 - 12:45

              @brendanm: And the law says that this is perfectly fine as long as it is done reasonably. - don't down vote me just because you don't like being wrong! lol

              There are lots of reasonable reasons to obstruct the path of a driver. Holding a parking spot for two minutes might be one of them, or it might not be.

              • brendanm on 18/10/2018 - 14:31

                @trapper: I didn't downvote you, I've run out of downvotes from other threads and Flanders on this one. Holding a spot is not reasonable. For any period of time. A reasonable reason would be someone putting their child in the car, or groceries. Not holding a space.

                Edit - also I am not wrong. Popular opinion and common sense says that you cannot stand in the middle of a car space. Only certain people think this is acceptable

                • trapper on 18/10/2018 - 14:39

                  @brendanm: You don't get to decide what the law means by reasonable.

                  • brendanm on 18/10/2018 - 14:42

                    @trapper: Generally the definition of reasonable is what "would be reasonable to the average person". As you can see from this thread, the vast majority of people find it unacceptable.

                    • trapper on 18/10/2018 - 14:52
                      -1

                      @brendanm: You don't know the context so how can you make that determination.

                      "I'm just standing here to be annoying" is not the same as "I'm holding this space for my wife, 8 months pregnant with twins, it's actually an emergency, thanks"

                      • brendanm on 18/10/2018 - 17:17
                        -1

                        @trapper: I don't think it's an emergency to get your pregnant wife to westfield

          • Stivo on 18/10/2018 - 11:50
            -1

            @trapper: So next up your going to be ok with a bunch of people setting up a picnic table and chairs to each lunch in a car park? Its the same thing.

            • trapper on 18/10/2018 - 13:14
              -1

              @Stivo: It depends. If the bunch of people have the permission of the carpark owner then it would almost certainly reasonable to do so.

              • Stivo on 18/10/2018 - 14:10
                -1

                @trapper: Well this guy clearly didnt have permission.

        • OzzyOzbourne on 17/10/2018 - 20:19

          So what's best, crush them or call the cops to get the obstruction removed?

      • DPW on 18/10/2018 - 18:07

        Holding a car park is far from reasonable! Preventing an accident or protecting a person is reasonable

  • h4zey on 17/10/2018 - 09:10
    +1

    break one of their mirror and left a note stating you will break another one if you see him holding a spot next time!

    • OzzyOzbourne on 17/10/2018 - 20:20

      Then what after the 2nd time? They only have 2 mirrors!

      • [Deactivated] on 18/10/2018 - 00:39
        +2

        That's on outside.

        • h4zey on 18/10/2018 - 09:05

          this guy gets it!

  • HeWhoKnows on 17/10/2018 - 10:05

    The law clearly states the first one going into the parking space has the right to it.
    This is regardless of where anyone is driving from or who has blinkers on or who was there first etc.
    You may observe courtesy or you may just observe what the law says. Its up to you.
    Hence somebody standing in a parking space clearly has no right to hold it for anyone.
    You just start driving into the parking space slowly and ignore anything they say or do.
    Perhaps toot your horn if they are in the way and keep reversing.
    Once you are partly or wholy in the space there is nothing to argue over as you are in the space first.
    If they make a big deal about it tell them to call the police but police will back you up.

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