Neighbor is Partially Blocking Our Driveway

**Terry Long Sr** · 08-19-2012, 10:03 AM

My question involves an easement in the state of: North Carolina
I bought my home 7 years ago and have never had any problems with my only neighbors that are the only ones i share the driveway with. Yesterday their son came to "clean up" HIS property that they abandoned before I bought my home, the problem is that he is partially blocking the driveway to the point that it is a danger to my family members!
My wife is a severe diabetic and is in serious danger as it is with her health, she has a gall bladder that is full of stones and her liver is completely destroyed by her diabetes, we have already been told that if her gall bladder ruptures to call 911 immediately so she will have a better chance of making it to the hospital alive. After calling the local police to have him move his truck I was told that they could not force him to move the truck even though he is endangering my wife's life by blocking the drive and preventing the emergency workers to have access to my home!
I will have no other choice than to use my wife's car to push his truck off the driveway when this situation arrives, the car or his truck means nothing to me and if I have to i'll ram the truck into the woods to clear the driveway for the ambulance to get to my home! My wife's life is already in serious danger without have a idiot that don't even live on the property making the situation even more dangerous, my oldest son has seizure's as well that could kill him, I have severe health issues as well as a friend that lives with us, so this jerk is actually putting 4 peoples lives in serious danger with his actions and I need to know what legal actions I can take to make sure this stops!

jk · 08-19-2012, 11:14 AM

how far is it from the blockade to your house? You speak as if you never leave your home since your claim is you cannot get passed the blockade without having to move it. That would mean you would not be able to leave to go to the store or anything else either.

to the easement: are you the dominant tenant or the servient tenant.

have you actually spoken to the guy?

and why is "HIS" in capital letters? Does he have a right to be on the property he is?

**Terry Long Sr** · 08-21-2012, 03:40 AM

It is not his property, i looked at the county property listings/owners and found it's his mother in laws property and he lied to the officers at the scene about who owned the property.
Yes, I tried to talk to him about it, the only thing he had to say was that I was trespassing on his land (I was in the middle of the driveway) and that he could park where he wanted too.
You didn't read and understand what I said, there's no way an ambulance could get passed his truck and he wouldn't even move the truck for police officers to get to my home. BTW is your family safe from such idiots?

jk · 08-21-2012, 07:52 AM

Terry Long Sr;644245]It is not his property, i looked at the county property listings/owners and found it's his mother in laws property and he lied to the officers at the scene about who owned the property.

but it is possible, maybe even likely, he does have permission to be there though.

Yes, I tried to talk to him about it, the only thing he had to say was that I was trespassing on his land (I was in the middle of the driveway) and that he could park where he wanted too.

so this is only while he is actually there?

You didn't read and understand what I said, there's no way an ambulance could get passed his truck and he wouldn't even move the truck for police officers to get to my home.

well, maybe because that is not what you clearly expressed.

BTW is your family safe from such idiots?

well, let's say I don't currently have any idiots blocking my drive occasionally that I have to deal with. Could it happen? Sure and I would have to act to remedy the situation.

If the guy is not committing a crime, your available action would be to sue him asking the court to issue an injunction ordering him to not block the drive. If he does, you would seek to have the court enforce the order and possibly charge him with contempt for the refusal.

**yyz0** · 08-21-2012, 08:16 AM

We had a similar situation with our ROW where the neighbors closer to the road were using the ROW as their parking. There was enough room for us to squeeze by but no way a large emergency vehicle would be able to get past them.

Cops would do nothing claiming it was a civil issue. We spoke to the town building inspector and he seemed to feel the same way as the police, until I mentioned that a fire truck would not be able to get to our house with them parking in the ROW.

He said that they can't block emergency access and sent them a letter indicating this fact and that he would issue Fire Code Violations to them if the parking continued. That seemed to get their attention and the parking in the ROW has stopped for the most part.

Have you tried this route? I would speak to the town building inspector and/or fire marshal and see if there is something they can do to keep emergency access to your home clear.