new street parking regulations

[Machast]

ok well, I live in a block of flats, on a narrow street. Parking is only permitted on 1 side of the street due to it being so narrow, the other side has "no parking" signs all along. Fair enough.

when I got home today, on the way up to my flat, the building's caretaker catches me & tells me about some new council regulation that if parking in the street, your vehicle must be facing the direction of traffic flow. (ie, not on the "wrong" side of the road - if you were moving).

What the hell is up with that?

Sure, you would have had to drive on the wrong side of the road for a few metres, but that's hardly a coucil matter.
The caretaker told me that one fella had already been done for it, and sure enough when I went out again, I saw a ticket under the windscreen wiper of the only car facing the "wrong" way.

Anyone else heard of this? Can anyone see a legit reason for this madness?

FYI Subi coucil.... maybe they've collected too much off rates & spent it on a dumb ideas machine.

[mikey_R6]

this has always been the rule in lots of places (?everywhere).

for instance at my GF's parents' place in shenton park they've been handing out tickets for that for years. they call it "parking too far from the kerb" on the ticket! haha

anyway, i don't think this is a new thing.

p.s. in london (for instance) everyone does it and it isn't against the law

[CitizenD]

I thought that was a basic tenet of roadside parking everywhere to be honest. It's possibly based upon the idea that to rejoin the flow of traffic, you won't have to perform a U-turn in the street, or some such.

[Machast]

well it's "new" around my way.

never heard of anyone being done for it before.

Must require a parking inspector having very BAD day to get done for frivolous pish like that. Seriously what the hell difference does it make which way ur pointing?

[Scoundrel]

Unfortunately (or fortunately, whichever way you want to look at it) your landlord appears to be correct. Local Law 4.1 of the City of Subiaco Local Laws relating to parking refers:

4.1 Manner of parking or stopping
(1) In addition to the general provisions of Part 2 of these Local Laws, a person shall not park or stop a vehicle or permit a vehicle to remain parked on a road unless: -
(a) the vehicle is parallel with and as close as practicable to the boundary of the carriageway;
(b ) the vehicle is headed in the direction of the movement of traffic on the side of the road on which the vehicle is parked or stopping;
(c ) at least 3 metres of the width of the carriageway between the vehicle and the farther boundary of the carriageway or between the vehicle and another vehicle stopping on the far side of the carriageway is available for the passage of other vehicles; and
(d) the vehicle is not less than 1.2 metres from any other vehicle, except a motorcycle or a bicycle parked in accordance with these Local Laws.
(2) Where a parking space is set out other than parallel to the boundary of a road
the provisions of paragraphs (1)(a) and (1)(b ) above do not apply.[/b]

[NanoBear]

Must say it always seemed like the right way to do it. Never heard of it actually being enforced though.

[Hired_goon]

Funnily enough, I think you will find it is more than local council law although they can enforce it.

Dig deep enough in the road rules and I think you will find it illegal to park on the wrong side of the road.

All tail lights are supposed to have reflectors in them which illuminate at night with passing headlights. No such thing in the front end as reflectors up there are illegal.

It's a safety issue I guess.

If your car were parked against traffic flow and I ran into it at night it could be your fault. (Yea, I know I'd have to be pretty stupid, or P plater)

[Machast]

All tail lights are supposed to have reflectors in them which illuminate at night with passing headlights. No such thing in the front end as reflectors up there are illegal.[/b]

now that sounds like a legit reason
although only applicable at night.

[Rhino]

OK picture this... 'someone' parks their car on the right hand side of the road. Driver closest to the curb and facing the 'wrong' way.

You're riding to work in the morning past said car, when they decide to leave. Now, because they've had to get 2/3s of the car out into the ONCOMING side of the traffic, you have a headon because they couldn't actually see if anyone was coming yet...

Then what would your rant be about?

I know it is 'OK' to do it in London. But I chose not to cos it is bloody hard to SAFELY leave that parking spot.

[MuNch]

Yup, got done for this a couple of years back while doing onsite support for a law firm.
The street was ONE lane and i parked like that, i got the ticket and had no idea WTF it meant.
I called the Town of Vincent up and told them they were a bunch of wankers that didnt understand how traffic works but in the end i had to pay the fine.

note this was on a ONE lane road, not just a narrow two lane.

[Taylor]

Wouldn't you have to drive on the wrong side of the road to park facing the wrong direction anyway?

[quattro750]

OK picture this... 'someone' parks their car on the right hand side of the road. Driver closest to the curb and facing the 'wrong' way.

You're riding to work in the morning past said car, when they decide to leave. Now, because they've had to get 2/3s of the car out into the ONCOMING side of the traffic, you have a headon because they couldn't actually see if anyone was coming yet...

Then what would your rant be about?

I know it is 'OK' to do it in London. But I chose not to cos it is bloody hard to SAFELY leave that parking spot.[/b]

+1

q

[Ice]

It is illegal. It is unsafe. This discussion came up a while ago when someone had a cry about getting done for it and I was stunned that anyone would think otherwise.
You have to break the law to get INTO the parking space and you have to break the law to get OUT of the parking space. Why on earth would you think parking this way is ok?

[IPIT]

My car got broken into when I was living in Sydney and they smashed the side window facing the street. I turned the car around and parked against the flow of traffic for one day to get the smashed side out of plain view and managed to get a ticket in the process!! I probably could have chased it up and explained the situation etc but I couldn't be bothered for $60!

Edit: PS I never paid the fine (I always wait for one reminder) and thanks to the wonderful NSW ticketing system at the time never got any reminders either. Go figure.

[D'Artagnan]

I got done in Sydney as well. Parked that way because 'all' the other cars were, so I figured it must be ok / the street rule. Came back to find the ticket. Little old lady popped her head out and explained that the other cars are all local cars and are over looked by the grey ghosts. I complained and got off.

D'Art

Edit: It was a one-way street that looped back on itself being two-way at one end.

[MuNch]

Still doesn't deter from the fact that parking officers are the scum of the earth.

[Kassper]

Yep I too thought that it was always illegal to park in the wrong direction . . . .




We should be able to park anywhere on the dam sidewalk like in Melbourne

[Machast]

You have to break the law to get INTO the parking space and you have to break the law to get OUT of the parking space. Why[/b]

yeh that's right, but the point of my question was why is it a council matter, rather than police. Pretty sure the local council can't ping ya for driving on the wrong side.

But anyway, Rhino made a fair point, and I'm happy to let it rest at that.

With cars parked, my street effectively becomes a *narrow* single lane, so there isn't any 'driving on the wrong side' as such, to get into a spot. As soon as you leave your spot, you'd be on the correct side. Ironically however, if you park the "right" way around, as soon as you leave your spot, you're driving on the "wrong" side, in order to get around the other cars.

So...parking the wrong way around, actually encourages people to drive on the correct side of the road

As for parking a bike, the "2/3 of the vehicle" point becomes redundant due to the central riding postition (assuming no sidecar), and the reflector issue isn't really applicable during the day, but I bet they'd still pounce on ya about it!.... beacuse they can.

Wouldn't you have to drive on the wrong side of the road to park facing the wrong direction anyway?[/b]

yes.. as stated in my first post. not the point here though.
edit: even if your car was lowered from a crane into its spot, it'd still be parked illegally.

[Taylor]

yes.. as stated in my first post. not the point here though.[/b]

"You're car is still on the wrong side of the road when it's stopped, if it's facing the other way to the flow of traffic." Councils are pedantic like that. They'll use any stretch of the law to mess with you.

[Taz]

the council cant ping you for driving on the wrong side but they are responsible for the parking .... if they were to let you park on the wrong side then there would be arguement in court that you were only trying to park legally.....



parking inspectors are like cops you break the rules and you get caught you get booked.....dont break the rules set down and you wont get caught.