Serangoon Gardens resident calls out driver for parking right in front of her gate

It's not easy to find a parking lot at times, but one driver appears to have occupied a spot at another person's expense.

A resident in Serangoon Gardens took to Facebook group Complaint Singapore on Sunday (Feb 25) to air her grievances after finding a black Mazda parked right outside her house at around 12 pm. 

"Who parks their car outside somebody else's gate like this? Blocking the entire driveway," 44-year-old Valerie Woo wrote in a post that was accompanied by photos.

As her elderly mother is bedridden, the car would prevent paramedics from entering her home should there be a medical emergency, Woo said.

"It’s inconsiderate to be blocking the driveway access directly in front of somebody’s house. No matter how long they want to park there," she wrote. 

Woo told AsiaOne that the driver left after an hour.

"I didn’t get to see who it was but I suspect it’s the same driver who used to do this a few years ago," she said.

According to her, the car was parked so close to her gate that she was unable to open the gate to exit her house. 

"It was very annoying. His car caused an obstruction for us residents to move in and out of our house easily as we have to walk around his car," Woo said. 

The errant driver would park his car outside her home around twice a month, she added.

To prevent him from doing so, Woo said she and her neighbour moved their dustbins onto the driveway. 

But their efforts proved to be futile. 

"The bins should be a deterrence but he still went ahead to park at an angle which is telling of his attitude. Like a middle finger to the residents," she wrote in her post.

Despite her frustration, Woo said she does not want to call the authorities on the driver, as she hopes to avoid a "potentially ugly" scenario. 

Instead, she placed a handwritten note on the car, "hoping that the driver will get the message and stop".

"Kindly do not park your car directly outside my gate. I have an elderly mother if an emergency arises, your car will pose a problem to us," the note read. 

Netizens were quick to comment on Woo's post, calling the driver out for his lack of parking etiquette. 

Many also felt that Woo should have complained to Land Transport Authority instead of writing a note, which "seems too gentle". 

In response to the comments, Woo said that she "just wants keep things civil for now". 

However, she added that she would call the authorities if the driver parked outside her home again.  

Last March, local celebrity Jade Seah was on the receiving end of a passive-aggressive note from a homeowner after she parked her car along a road inside a private housing estate. 

Jade retorted on Instagram: "You do not own the land outside your house. This is public property that anyone is at liberty to park at."

Sharing that she had previously been confronted by landed homeowners multiple times for parking at private estates, Jade pointed out how these homeowners would "bully others into submission".

At private estates, vehicles are allowed to park on both sides of the road, as long as there are no lines on either side of the road and the lane divider is a single non-continuous white line, according to Motorist.sg. 

But drivers are also advised to park their vehicles "in a manner" that does not block any entrances and the flow of traffic. 

ALSO READ: 'Why you block the entrance?' Man accuses driver of hitting him while reversing car into home, gets no sympathy online

ashwini.balan@asiaone.com