Manly, NSW: Driver's anger as pedestrian stands in car space

An angry dispute has erupted at a local community event after a pedestrian stood in a parking spot to save it for a car – but another driver demanded she get out of the way. 

Footage of the awkward interaction at the surf lifesaving event in Manly, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, was shared to social media on Sunday after a woman heard the argument from a cafe across the street. 

In the clip, the occupants of a green hatchback – a man and woman in their 20s – argue with the woman in the raincoat who steadfastly refuses to move, reserving a spot for a friend. 

‘You can’t stand in car spots!’ the hatchback passenger fumes – with the couple refusing to move their car even after the vehicle the pedestrian was waiting for arrives.  

A woman dining in a cafe across the street heard the commotion after a pedestrian tried to save a parking spot for a Mercedes 4WD (pictured) 

The witness said: ‘The chick in rain jacket was trying to hold the spot for the person in black 4WD, but the dude in green car tooted at her for ages to move.’ 

The observer said the ‘constant’ honking and yelling caught her attention and she began to film after the green car had managed to pull into the spot.

The video sparked a heated debate in the comments about the etiquette for saving car parks.  

‘What’s wrong with holding a spot for someone. It’s who you know. I would and do hold spots,’ one person said.

‘Are you serious? A person cannot reserve a spot for a car it’s anti-social and unacceptable,’ another person argued.

‘She is making the assumption the people she knows are more important than other people,’ a third added.

The two occupants of the green hatchback and the woman who stood in the spot in the cap argue in the street (pictured) 

A fourth person agreed it was not acceptable to hold spots but that ‘hatchback needs to cool his jets, carrying on like that isn’t good’.

Another person said they were at the same location on Thursday and had a similar experience with a ‘rude’ person refusing to move from a parking spot they were standing in.

‘He didn’t move, it wasn’t worth the effort so I just kept driving until I found another park’.

While it is not technically illegal for a pedestrian to stand in a parking spot, the NRMA said it was ‘peak rudeness’. 

‘It should go without saying that a passenger or friend can’t claim a spot by standing in it,’ the insurer said.

‘This is extremely anti-social car park etiquette and is sure to raise temperatures and lead to an unhealthy confrontation.’