'Petty' note on learner driver's car sparks outrage: 'So condescending'

Perth residents have hit back at a "petty" motorist who left a snarky message on the bonnet of a learner driver’s car.

In a photo taken of the vehicle parked in an undercover car park at Morley Galleria shopping centre in the city’s northeast, the dark grey Mazda can be seen parked with a note under its windscreen wiper. A second image reveals what was on the front of the note.

“Many three year olds have trouble staying within the lines,” the letter read in large letters with a picture of a turtle underneath the text. “Maybe if you practise colouring this turtle, it will help with your parking.”

But the message has not gone down well with fellow motorists who were outraged that someone would leave this on a learner driver’s car.

"That's a bit harsh on someone who's learning — I'd be devastated if someone did this to me when I first started driving, everyone has to learn at some point," one person wrote. "A massive kick in the guts for the learner," another said. While another asked: "When did public shaming learner drivers become ok?"

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The post on Reddit has since racked up more than 1,000 reactions and over 375 comments, but many of those who left a message were quick to point out that the driver was within the white lines.

"99.999% of the car is well within the lines, colouring in book or not," one person said. "Yeh that's not even that bad, kinda annoying to get in next to, but not illegal," another commented.

"OMG so condescending and petty lol," a third added. "[It] looks like they're in the lines, they're an L-plater, and possibly had to park that way due to someone else parking wonky before them."

While others said the driver who was teaching the learner should have taken responsibility and corrected the parking before leaving the vehicle.

Drivers fed up with abuse

In Queensland, a Sunshine Coast father was left seeing red after he returned to his vehicle parked at a shopping centre in Birtinya to find a note left behind.

"Parent parking," the message read. "For people with babies/kids in the car. Not selfish c***s like yourself."

But in a photo the man took of the note, his small young son could be seen balanced on his hip. "Thank you to whoever left this note for us at Stockland," he said. "[I] wasn't aware that my kid didn't count as a kid.."

Meanwhile, a woman in Canberra was left crushed after another driver accused her of not being disabled, after she parked in the disabled spot. In a note left on her windscreen, the other motorist wrote: “Hi, are you truly disabled? You both walked from your car like athletes. Please follow the rules.”

In a post on social media, the woman’s daughter hit back at the driver. “What the hell is wrong with people?” she asked. “How dare they put this on my mum’s car?”

She told Yahoo News Australia that while her mum "doesn't look like she has a disability, in actual fact she has multiple [disabilities]" after suffering a polycystic kidney and liver that leaves her fatigued and in pain.

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