Furious moment a ‘Karen’ blocks parking spot in Jesmond, NSW
An elderly woman has been called ‘Karen’ after she blocked a motorist from taking the last available parking space in a full car park.
The startling incident was captured on dashcam on Thursday as the driver pulled into a parking space in the Newcastle suburb of Jesmond, north of Sydney.
While all other spaces are occupied, the driver sees a single empty, slanted parking space.
As the car began to pull into the parking lot, a woman who was standing at the markers and appeared to be reserving the parking space, stepped in front of the car to stop the driver from driving into it.
She pointed and waved her hand to indicate to the driver that they were not allowed to park there.
Eventually, the driver drove on and later shared the footage online of “Karen,” a slang term for someone perceived as spoiled or excessively demanding.
“Just a Karen trying to save a spot for her husband,” the video captured.
Dashcam captured woman blocking empty parking space on Thursday
Many viewers agreed that the woman was wrong.
“This is a huge fail, please tell me you didn’t let her get away with it! Just drive it and she’ll go away,” one viewer commented.
Another added: ‘What a Karen, I hope you came for a ride.’
A third wrote: ‘I can’t believe anyone thinks this is okay. Although I have a few older relatives who would do this.
Others believe the woman should have been fined $78, which applies to the offence in NSW.
The woman moved and gestured to the driver to park somewhere else
While there are no specific rules about ‘reserving parking spaces’, the Australian Road Rules, which form the basis for NSW law, state that ‘pedestrians must not cause a traffic hazard by standing in front of a driver’.
The rules also state that pedestrians must not ‘unreasonably obstruct the path of a driver’.