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...until this bit. Don't know why I get completely triggered by conspiracy theorists but I do.
Just because it's a conspiracy it doesn't mean it's not true......
There is a handy dandy website you can put a numberplate into and it tells you the tax and insurance state.
I mostly WFH in the front bedroom so have a bird's eye view of the school run schenanigans outside our house - if I see anyone parking on the yellow lines, the grass verge (with no parking signs) or on the pavement, it warms my cold heart to report them to the council. I also check for tax and MOT, and report for that, too. Once had someone park on our drive, and I would have paid to have had something to report that scrote for (beyond leaving the arse-end of his car over the pavement).
Anecdotally, there is WAY less dick parking, and far fewer untaxed, un-MOT'd cars round here than there were a couple of years ago. Now, I don't believe for a moment that my actions have in any way played a meaningful part in that shift, but whatever the cause, it's quite nice to think that people round here have a lower percentage of dick than they used to, so to speak. 🙂
If it's not blocking you, or causing you issue, why do you need to do anything about it, at all?
🙄
I think that's been covered pretty comprehensively. But in summary, didn't, wouldn't, firebombed it.
Out of interest those "it's none of your business and not causing you any harm" neighbors. Where exactly would you draw that line, given that this example is already illegal?
I'm not implying that having an untaxed car is a gateway crime into child sex trafficking or terrorism. But neither of those crimes would directly affect me or you either. So at what point do you act for the greater good of society?
Where exactly would you draw that line, given that this example is already illegal
That is a fair question, unlike some of the comments made in this thread.
You can take the attitude that it is your job to report every bit of illegal activity: somebody driving with a broken tail light, or doing 35 in a 30 limit, or putting unwashed bottles in their recycling bin, or riding their bike on a footpath . . . .
But unless you want to spend your life as a professional busybody, and/or piss off all your neighbours, you have to draw the line somewhere. For the law enforcement authorities this is called discretion.
In the specific example the OP gave the car had been untaxed for only a couple of weeks and was parked in a place that does not pose a danger to anyone else. I would give them a month or so to sort it out themselves, then my next step would be to have a neighbourly chat with them about it, mainly focused on the fact that somebody is going to report as abandoned sooner or later, or the DVLA will be onto them for the lack of SORN, so they would be wise to park it off road or tax it.
Where exactly would you draw that line, given that this example is already illegal?
Is it actually causing any harm to anybody? Being illegal doesn't necessarily mean anyone is being harmed, just that a rule has been broken.
Someone has parked an old car and it isn't causing a problem and you're wondering if you should call the police?
I'm wondering as since this thread started the DVLA have been round to our village and clamped someone's Micra for not being taxed so I came back to the thread to refresh my memory what sort of car was in the OP 🤣
And had a debate with someone in the club over reporting an "unsafe" pass on the clubrun. They'd been behind us long enough that the person now reporting really should have just pulled in a bit and let them past. For context I think they'd been behind us up a very narrow lane which then went through a junction and widens out but not enough to get a central white line.
They accelerated past and (IMO) accidentally got their offside wheels in the opposite muddy verge sending a huge plume of mud and debris under the van and into the road (it was quite a tall full-size transit with lots of ground clearance) .
The video makes it look pretty bad, and by the book it would be driving without due care and attention, and could have gone much worse (I'm surprised he didn't end up losing control). But at the end of the day he'd been patient, the road was wide enough, he gave as much, in fact more, room than was possible At the end of the day what is going to be achieved, he'll give less room in future? Get a dashcam himself and report the club for riding without due care and attention for not singling out to allow a safe overtake?
Someone has parked an old car and it isn't causing a problem and you're wondering if you should call the police?
No, I was wondering what STW forum users would do, which is a subtly - apparently incomprehensibly - different question. As I've said about 20 times now, I had and have no intention of doing anything as the car is just sat there minding its own business. I even said this in giant, bold BLOCK CAPITALS somewhere on the previous page, I think.
I was curious.
And true to form, there were a few 'dob 'em in now, they are Satan' takes, along with a lot more 'mind your own business, who do you think you are, the bloody Stasi?' ones. There were also some quite thoughtful, replies which were a little more nuanced and people raising parallel situations.
My personal take, which hasn't changed, is that given that the car isn't a danger to anyone, has only been sat there untaxed for a couple of weeks, and our neighbours are mostly decent enough, that it's basically none of my business and reporting it would be odd. I assume that the DVLA know that it's not taxed or MoTed and hasn't been SORNed, so presumably at some point will take appropriate action. But that's nothing to do with me.
If it were an issue for me, say it was directly outside my house and blocking access, I'd actually - shock, horror! - talk to the neighbours and ask them politely if they could move it further down the street. There's a certain irony here in that they go slightly bonkers if anyone parks outside their house, but again, I don't really care about that.
Anyway, thanks for all the responses, which helped me come to the decision that fire-bombing the car was the way forward. Please don't report me to the police... 😉
Ooops, sorry, my previous post in block caps was further up this page. Apologies to anyone who mistakenly cared enough to check the previous one. My mistake. Move along, nothing to see there.
There's a certain irony here in that they go slightly bonkers if anyone parks outside their house,
In which case, definitely shop them!
Something which I don't think has been mentioned yet: is it insured?
So... the car's still there, but only just. After being sat on the road untaxed or MoTed for, what, five months, it's currently being loaded onto a Copart transporter.
I have no idea if it's insured tbh. Contrary to any impression I may have inadvertently given on this thread, I'm really not very fussed.
It's a happy outcome for everyone though, no snitching, grassing or owt even mildly un-neighbourly was involved and it only sat there for five months or so and no-one was seriously injured by its presence afaik 🙂
Insurance isn't so easy to check, IIRC - there IS a publicly accessible website somewhere but it's only supposed to be used by people in the insurance industry, so I don't tend to use it.
So... the car's still there, but only just. After being sat on the road untaxed or MoTed for, what, five months, it's currently being loaded onto a Copart transporter.
I have no idea if it's insured tbh. Contrary to any impression I may have inadvertently given on this thread, I'm really not very fussed.
It's a happy outcome for everyone though, no snitching, grassing or owt even mildly un-neighbourly was involved and it only sat there for five months or so and no-one was seriously injured by its presence afaik 🙂
So this thread was for no reason other than to start a bun fight?
Sounds about right.
Looks like the problem has resolved itself without causing a public danger or nuicance.
"Sometimes the best form of action is inaction"
-some Buddhist dude
WWID? Fk all.
After being sat on the road untaxed or MoTed for, what, five months
Five months!?
Must be a patient lot round your way!
In some areas that's long enough to get the residents restraining orders, criminal convictions for invoking a punch-up, emptying your life savings in legal fees - and worst of all getting one of those grumpy folded-arms photos in the local paper! 🤣
So this thread was for no reason other than to start a bun fight?
Sounds about right.
No, I was just wondering what other people's stance was. I was curious, that's all. My own take was always pretty much indifference unless it was being driven, which it wasn't. It turned out that rather than having any sort of ethical take on it all, mostly people here just wanted to have an aggressive online pop at someone else, which, as you say, sounds about right. I particularly enjoyed all the hardman, quasi prison culture crap about grasses and snitches, STW being at the epicentre of organised crime as it is.
Five months!?
Must be a patient lot round your way!
I'm intrigued because I always assumed that DVLA would take some sort of action if a car wasn't SORNed but didn't have tax and MOT. Maybe they did, I suppose. I don't think people here are particularly patient, but it's not exactly a heavily policed area and it wasn't doing anyone any harm apart from taking up a parking space in a not particularly heavily-parked road.
Out of curiosity, how do you tell if a car isn’t taxed and/or SORN?
There’s a breaking bad style camper van thing in our neighbourhood. It looks to be a do it up project but it’s always in the same state, and same position.
It’s parked very close to a corner, half path half road - it’s a bit of an obstacle. There’s room in his drive for it if he could swap his cars about.
He’s not a neighbour as such, we pass his home to get to ours, ive not seen him out or I would say hi and casually work it into the conversation.
I don’t believe he’s smuggling chimps. The gateway drug parallel had me chuckling, until I realised it wasn’t a joke.
Trailseeker, thanks. Don’t know his reg but will have a nosey next opportunity
www.askmid.com checks the insured status.
Within a few weeks the vehicle (ancient Izuz Trooper) it had dissapeared so it obviously wasnt worth making legal and a works van replaced it which is doing the job legally.
A few months late to the party, but don't bet on it. The van needs a tacho and anyone who drives it needs a taco card and CPC if the combined weight of the vehicle and trailer exceeds 3,500kg
A few months late to the party, but don't bet on it. The van needs a tacho and anyone who drives it needs a taco card and CPC if the combined weight of the vehicle and trailer exceeds 3,500k
This is inaccurate information and completely irrelevant to a parked vehicle.
If you'd bothered to read the quote you'd know it was about a different vehicle from a different poster. As to inaccurate, what's wrong with it?
Is there another quote except the one within the quote box on your post ?
The inaccuracy lies in when tacho and CPC applies. It's not a blanket statement. If your moving goods for money it applies. If your business is unrelated to the transport of goods ie a builder with your own small digger on the trailer or a height access platform for your own use in your business you don't need tacho or CPC. If you were hiring it out on a non operated basis you need tacho and CPC and more so ....if the vehicle is parked up then tacho and CPC is non applicable.
Do you still get money for scrapping these days? I thought you were now more likely to have to pay to have it taken away.
You should see the state of some of the vehicles Copart have in their storage yards! Literally burned-out rusty shells, in some cases. Where I worked in Westbury, they had two sites, one right next to our main site, the other down the road opposite our remote storage facility. When Cazoo went tits-up, Copart took over both areas, so they now have a massive storage facility, and a couple of my former colleagues got jobs there.
Just to give an idea of the scale of their operations, this aerial view has Cazoo’s sites outlined in yellow, and Copart’s in red; that is all Copart now.
Is there another quote except the one within the quote box on your post ?
Yes.
The inaccuracy lies in when tacho and CPC applies. It's not a blanket statement. If your moving goods for money it applies. If your business is unrelated to the transport of goods ie a builder with your own small digger on the trailer or a height access platform for your own use in your business you don't need tacho or CPC. If you were hiring it out on a non operated basis you need tacho and CPC and more so ....if the vehicle is parked up then tacho and CPC is non applicable.
So why not say that in first instance? I'm happy to be corrected when I'm wrong, however this page doesn't exactly agree with you;
Tachographs: rules for drivers and operators: Tachographs in light vehicles - GOV.UK
You need to use a tachograph if you are driving a smaller vehicle (such as a 4x4) for towing and both of the following apply:
- the maximum authorised mass (MAM)of the vehicle and trailer is more than 3,500kg
- the vehicle is used commercially
- the vehicle is used commercially
’commercially’’ can be quite a specific term and ‘commercial use’ and ‘business use’ are different things. We refer to vans as “commercial vehicles” but that doesn’t mean they’re used commercially. A builder/gardener/poodle parlour using a vehicle for their business isn’t commercial use
Exemptions are important. As is context when interpreting googlefoo.
Every day's a school day.