A frustrated homeowner uses her wheelie bins to reserve parking outside her house.
Helen Barrell said the parking situation on her road is a "nightmare", in part due to parents and teachers from a nearby school using it as an overspill.
The 43-year-old also said despite the heavily congested road, many motorists still opt to drive at dangerous speeds and she fears there will be fatality, reports BirminghamLive.
When the author and librarian, from Smethwick, West Midlands, had contractors coming to replace a window, she decided to try the trick to ensure they had somewhere to park.
"I couldn't leave the contractors to carry it all the way up the road otherwise it risked being broken," said Helen, whose lived in Gladys Road, in the Bearwood area, for 12 years.
"And they needed access to their tools while working."
Outlining the congestion issue, she said: "The road I live in is right by a primary school which doesn't have any parking for staff, so they all park on my road and other roads nearby.
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"And at school dropping-off and picking-up time, parents all try to park in the road too.
"It's a nightmare for residents as there's just nowhere to park, and it worries me that this situation is played out all over the region and in fact the country.
"I am concerned for the children - it's very unsafe, especially when people have to reverse a long way to find a passing place when they find another car heading their way."
Helen, who lives with her partner and cat, has called on Sandwell Council to implement a 20mph speed limit on Gladys Road, and nearby Ethel Street, and enforce a one-way system.
She said even though it is currently two-way, because cars park on both sides, it is essentially one-way anyway, but with cars trying to get down it from both sides.
"Some drivers go much too fast down this road too - and it's on a hill," she continued.
"It seems crazy to me that a street so near a school isn't 20mph already, but it looks as if, because no one's been mown down and killed yet, it's not a priority.
"It seems dreadful to me that we have to wait until someone dies before anything is done."
Helen also rued the fact that the council is reportedly installing an electric charging point at the end of her road, which she believes will cause 'confrontations'.
She said people who live in terraces without off-street parking will find it "incredibly difficult" to charge their cars.
"I dread to think of the battles that will ensue as people fight over that space," she added.
A council spokesperson said: "In recent years Sandwell Council’s highways team has worked hard to improve safety across the borough and investigate and implement road safety measures.
"All one way requests in the borough are always investigated in detail, as they can have both benefits and disadvantages.
"The area around Gladys Road and Ethel Street is already being considered for a 20mph zone in the current year’s programmes of road safety works.
"Sandwell Council is listening to local communities and will be providing additional funds to consider a wider range of community requests for road safety measures this year."
