Team-BHP - Ideas to keep idiots from blocking my gates?

In case you already don't, get a full grown coconut tree transplanted at your main gate.
Then put a big board nicely telling people to please not park there due to falling coconuts.
After that when some moron does park there, throw a coconut yourself smashing his windshield or roof.
For good measure, wear gloves while throwing coconut. No finger prints. No proof. Only act of God.

Ideas to keep idiots from blocking my gates?-parking-cocnut.png

Jokes apart, surely you are not the only one facing this problem. Perhaps you and your neighbours can pool in to employ bouncers?

Hi Rush,

Sorry if I am sounding negative. Firstly the space you are thinking about putting barriers/cones is a public road which is not owned by one. Secondly putting cones/barriers would mean you are trying to usurp the space which can be complained to the authorities who would want to take action on doing so. I would suggest to approach the authorities for some solution with some evidences of the blocking of entry/exit. The authorities could help in putting a board of No Parking or painting the surface etc. Let it come from them rather than you enforcing it.

I had seen in one independent house in Bangalore a proximity sensor and a small speaker which warned against parking in front of the gate and towing by authorities.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghodlur (Post 5420970)

I agree that anything outside the compound wall is public area. But that does not mean we allow anyone to block the entry and exit into the home. Parking is fine as long as it is not blocking the entry or exit. In the pic shared by GTO above, there is a polo parked in front of neighbor gate. This is unacceptable. What if there is an emergency and someone needs to be taken to the hospital but finds that there is a car blocking the gate?!

Here the suggestions are non-invasive. They are not aimed at altering the public property. As an analogy, in the USA where it a vehicle is blocking a fire hydrant, then in case of emergency the fire department can smash through the vehicle with force to access the hydrant. Here we are not suggesting such damaging action. We are suggesting preventive actions. And let's face it, In India, police are least bothered about solving such problems of aam junta. We can talk idealistically to approach the police and give a complaint. It will not work unless you can pull some strings or grease some palms.

I can think of a simple and inexpensive solution.

Grout 2 Stainless steel rods on either sides of the gate, maybe 4-5 feet in height, you can purchase these in SS304 so it won't rust and not look like an eyesore, when not in use.

When your gate is shut from the inside/outside and you don't want people parking against it, simply put a chain between the 2 rods and occupy the space in front of the gate.

You will have to deal with neighbors and the odd municipal corporation employee who can question the legality of the same, but since it is removable, it should fly.

Attaching a photo of the same. You can avoid the gaudy yellow color.

Ideas to keep idiots from blocking my gates?-chain-gate.jpg

Put a big board on the gate and in bold, red letters have the following written. Ensure the board is an eyesore, it should be very visible.

W A R N I N G - GATE IN USE ! (all capitals)
Do not park, block the gate. All tyres will be deflated or/and your vehicle may be towed. If any damage happens to your vehicle, it’s your responsibility.

Try this out only if you are willing to deflate all tyres of the offending vehicle as one should never write or say what cannot be backed up by action.

Cheers

The red cones with plastic chains seems to work here in Bangalore.

Two suggestions from my side:

1. One non-intrusive idea. Use thick layer of reflective paint (which is used for lane marking on roads) and sketch two quarter circles on the road, along the lines the gate opens. Also paint a "No Parking" on "Drive way" on road. You can also write on the gate: "No Parking. Caution: Gate opens outward", No one would like to get his car scratched by a gate opening on the roadside. (as in attached image).

2. If it is allowed, put two really big pots with some good green/decorative plants about a feet away from boundary wall, one on each side of the gate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 5420900)

We are facing a severe problem of idiots parking their cars on our gates without care for 2 - 3 hours, while they chill on the beach.

My family faced this problem at our house in Chennai. Our house falls in a dead end; the street originally was filled with independent houses with large gardens & ample parking space. Over the last two decades, people have been breaking them down and building apartments, boundary to boundary. Most of these hardly have enough parking spots for all the apartment houses; leave aside for a 2nd vehicle. Naturally the street parking space isn't sufficient by any manner.

So starts the merry-go-round every evening to find a parking spot for the night in front of someone else' house on the street, at times even in front of the gate. And the owners take their cars off to their respective work destinations every morning. A few would put covers on their cars and leave it parked for days/weeks. In addition to this, several yellow-board vehicles started parking overnight.

We have stuck to using our scooters to 'block' the parking spaces. Nothing else worked. That has been the go-to solution for several years now and thankfully people around on the street have got the idea and stopped parking in front of our house at least.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninjatalli (Post 5421083)

Our house falls in a dead end; the street originally was filled with independent houses...Over the last two decades, people have been breaking them down and building apartments...every evening to find a parking spot for the night in front of someone else' house on the street, at times even in front of the gate.

We have stuck to using our scooters to 'block' the parking spaces. Nothing else worked.

Oh man, exact same scenario on my street in Bangalore! We're one of the few houses that hasn't 'redeveloped' to add 2-3 extra floors and rent those out. So even though we have enough space to park our car and my bikes inside the house, I park one bike outside just so that some idiot doesn't park a car there and block our exit/entry gate. Also our street is narrow so if someone parks and my neighbor also parks a car opposite each other, no car can go through. Naturally they assume the car must be ours since it's outside our house and they start honking outside our place! To prevent all that, one of my bikes is almost always parked outside. Like you said, nothing else works.

In the spirit of 'always seeing a silver lining', none of our relatives visits us at home, since there is no parking for their massive cars. Works for me, since I'm basically an anti-social chap! :)