He Told His Neighbor to Stop Using His Driveway as a Turnaround

By Messy Marge · October 15, 2026

A homeowner bought a house with a long stretch of paved driveway, and the contractor across the street kept using it to turn a big utility trailer around. After about six months of early-morning engine noise and a lawn edge chewed into mud, the homeowner told him to stop. The neighbor was not happy, and the homeowner asked the internet whether he went too far.

This story was reported by The Daily Dot and comes from a post on r/AmItheAsshole. It’s one side of one neighborhood squabble and nobody can verify it, so I’m judging the behavior described, not the people.

The Original Post

The Short Version

The poster and his family bought their home two years ago. It came with a long paved driveway. Across the street lives a neighbor of about 15 years who runs a contracting business and owns a large utility trailer. The street is narrow, so he started swinging the rig around at the top of the poster’s driveway. The poster said yes when he first asked.

Over roughly six months, that turned into several turnarounds a day, often around 6 a.m. The diesel truck and trailer kept waking the poster’s toddler, and the tires were grinding the edge of the lawn into mud.

One Saturday the noise woke the toddler at 6:30 a.m. The poster politely asked his neighbor to stop, citing the noise and the lawn. He added that it was private property, and that if it kept happening he would put up visible markers along the edges. The neighbor got defensive, said earlier owners never minded, and called the poster unneighborly over “a little bit of dirt.” The poster’s wife thought he should have given a warning before laying down a boundary. He felt it was overdue.

What the Internet Said

The Daily Dot quoted only a couple of commenters, and both backed the poster. One noted the neighbor didn’t even seem sorry when confronted and said marking the boundary was a smart move. Another argued that the previous owners’ leniency gave the neighbor no lasting rights, and that letting it happen once doesn’t mean he’s entitled to do it forever. The outlet noted it couldn’t verify the details.

Marge’s Ruling

Not the villain. A driveway is private property, and a yes to a one-off favor can be taken back, especially once it turns into a daily habit with real costs: a ruined lawn edge and a toddler jolted awake before sunrise. He didn’t yell, he gave a reason and he named a consequence. That is what a boundary looks like.

The wobble is the order of operations. Telling the neighbor “stop, and if you don’t I’ll mark the lawn” in the same conversation as the first complaint skips the easy middle step. His wife’s point has some weight. A “hey, this has gotten to be a lot, can we find another spot?” a few weeks earlier might have kept the peace and saved the grass.

There’s also an easy fix on the other side. A contractor with a trailer that big has other options, like backing into a wider spot, using the cross street or asking a different neighbor. Being defensive about “a little bit of dirt” skips the part where it’s someone else’s dirt.

Cast Your Vote

Marge has ruled. Now it’s your turn: pick a side below, then see how the Goblin Tavern on Discord voted.

Keep digging: She kept her girls’ trip, and her sister called her selfish, He quit free babysitting, but the kids showed up anyway and more Reddit drama.

This story was reported by The Daily Dot and comes from a post on r/AmItheAsshole. The goblins summarize and give their own take; they don’t copy the original text. Names and usernames are left out on purpose.

Sources

• The Daily Dot: Redditor finally draws the line after neighbor repeatedly uses his private driveway to turn around with a loud utility trailer