‘Neighbour’s kid left toy on my drive and it ended in tears’

When you return home after being out of the house, the last thing you want is for your neighbour to have left things across the front of your home. But that’s exactly what happened when one woman reversed up her own driveway to park her car. Rather than being able to smoothly reverse into her drive with no drama, she was greeted with an “almighty metal clunk” as she backed up her car, and was left gobsmacked, admitting she was “panicked” about what she’d hit.

“I jumped out to see what I’d driven over – the neighbour’s kid’s scooter was left abandoned on my driveway,” she fumed, adding her neighbour came over and told her she had driven over her son’s scooter. The neighbour picked it up and said it wasn’t damaged – but that left the woman annoyed.

She pointed out that she was more concerned about her vehicle getting damaged, which would be far more expensive to fix or replace than a kid’s toy. But, she said, the neighbour got defensive and said her car was “fine,” and walked off.

“I’m not one to choose confrontation, and as the car was in fact fine, I just let it go,” she admitted. However, the day after, the woman was left seething when the neighbour’s husband came over and launched into a rant, saying: “Now can we be all grown up about this? Grown-ups come and apologise when they damage something,” the woman explained on Mumsnet’s ‘Am I Being Unreasonable’ forum.

The scooter had, in fact, been broken by the car, but the woman was confused about how she was supposed to know that when she’d been told that it was fine the day prior. She added his tone was “patronising”.

“He completely didn’t see my point that this is my driveway and I should be able to expect it to be clear of any objects, and the kid simply shouldn’t have left it there,” she said. “I am still seething at his audacity to try and put it on me.”

The woman went on to explain: “Our driveways join up and there is no clear kerb to mark the border of one and the other, however, it is clear that what’s in front of my garage to the right is mine, what’s in front of his and to the left is his. The scooter wasn’t even by the garage; it was halfway up to my front door.”

She added: “Unfortunately, the way the estate is designed, I don’t actually have a clear view of my driveway when I get on it. It is also partly their fault because they park two cars on their side and partly obscure the view.

“But now I’m not sure what to do, do I need to get out of my car every time I arrive to check the driveway is clear? Would you say this is a normal neighbourly thing to expect things to make their way onto my driveway?”

In the comments, people referred to her neighbours as “utter t****,” saying she should “stand her ground” and the toy should not have been there in the first place.

A second wrote: “I would go and knock on the door and say: ‘Hi xxxx. Been thinking about what you said, and yes, you are right, grown-ups do apologise when something has been broken, as should children. My car has been slightly damaged, so when can I expect an apology from you and your child? Please can you also ensure your child doesn’t leave anything on my drive again? I will not be stopping my car to check if the driveway is clear, as there should be nothing on it’.”

A third shared: “They should not have left the scooter there. You are not responsible for it. However, most people don’t drive into places they can’t see.”

A fifth explained: “Your neighbours are unreasonable to leave stuff on your driveway. If possible, space-wise, I would mark the boundary with a low wall, planters or something. But you don’t need to if you don’t want to.” But, they added: “You should never ever drive onto the ground when you can’t see if it’s clear or not.”

What would you do in this situation? Let us know in the comments…