A resident of a major Australian city has targeted ‘spoilt’ drivers by putting angry notes on their car windows.
The mysterious parking attendant criticised drivers parking on a residential street in Brisbane’s inner-city neighbourhood of Nundah, which is just 10 minutes from the airport.
The drivers are accused of parking for free at the homes and then taking an Uber to Brisbane Airport, thus avoiding the high parking charges at the airport, but leaving their cars on the street when they are outside the city.
The burning notes, which were taped to the windows of several cars, read:
“I’m a selfish asshole.”
“I park my car in front of other people’s houses and then take an Uber to the airport.”
‘I don’t give a damn that the people who live here now have to park further away from their homes.’
“I saved a few euros on parking and I’m not worried about other people.”
Mysterious parking attendant has problems with drivers parking on a residential street in Brisbane’s inner city, Nundah
The images of the insulting notes sparked mixed reactions on social media.
Some commentators defended the parking attendant’s actions.
“There have been two cars parked on our street for over a month,” one person wrote.
‘I checked the registrations and they are both self-rental cars. ‘So annoying, but what can we do… nothing, I guess, until someone rents them out.’
Others criticized the poster with the naughty note for their “aggressive behavior” and criticized them for being “entitled.”
“Try living within 200 metres of a train station,” one person wrote.
“Imagine you own the street in front of your house. Unless there are locals with permit-only signs or they park across a driveway, it’s first come, first served,” wrote another.
The offensive signs were plastered on the windows of several cars, accusing drivers of parking for free to avoid high parking charges at Brisbane Airport, just 10 minutes away.
Aggressive comments and other actions by locals against people parking on residential streets are common throughout the country.
Earlier this year, a resident was accused of using orange traffic cones to reserve a parking space on a street where it was becoming increasingly difficult to find a parking spot.
In Leichhardt, in western Sydney, several traffic cones have been placed along the kerb.
A frustrated resident shared a photo on Facebook, furious that there was already too little parking on the busy street.
“It’s been going on for months and it doesn’t appear to be a renovation,” he wrote.
There are no parking restrictions on the street, meaning residents can park there for as long as they want, as long as they can get a spot.
A resident has used orange traffic cones to block on-street parking for at least two cars near his home in Leichhardt, central Sydney
Social media users were quick to share their thoughts, with many suggesting that the neighbors should simply move the witch hats.
Others called the parking law “scandalous,” “spoiled,” “rude” and “selfish.”
Some supported the law, dismissing the criticism as “grumbling,” claiming that residents have a right to reserve a parking space.
The Inner West City Council has stated that reserving on-street parking spaces in this way is prohibited. According to the council, residents are not allowed to leave objects, such as traffic cones, unattended in public spaces.
Urban planner and author Dr David Mepham told Yahoo News Australia that due to the lack of available parking spaces in residential streets, people have become ‘aggressively territorial with regard to ‘their’ parking spaces’.
‘We often feel that we are entitled to ‘cheap and easy’ parking, but we are conveniently unaware of the consequences of our own behaviour.’
“People can get selfish, stupid and aggressive about rights. It’s bullying, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.
According to Dr. Mepham, it is up to local authorities to prevent drivers from using residential streets for long-term parking.