Parking again

[Bazile]

Does the law say anything about parking , facing the wrong way , on a road at night ?

[bednobs]

what do you mean by facing the wrong way? in a one way street? or facing so the headlights are pointing to the middle of the road? If the latter i hope it dosent say anything cause ive got a smart car and i always park sideways!

[Loosehead]

No

[Ethel]

Yes.

It is an offence to park offside at night and can be dealt with by Fixed Penalty Notice - fine only, no points.

[Bazile]

I thought that was the case , Ethel

Must be one of the most flouted law - almost certainly through lack of awarness .

I wonder how many penalty notices are handed out yearly - not many I would have thought

[Ethel]

You might find this interesting -

IN THE COUNTY IN THE LAST WEEK THERE WERE:

10 serious, 52 slight injury collisions and 142 damage only collisions.

21 drivers were arrested for drink-drive offences, 7 at the scene of a collision. 2 drivers were arrested for driving whilst under the influence of drugs.

Drivers prosecuted for offences:

No waiting 13
Excess speed 11
No seat belt (driver) 9
Using mobile phone whilst driving 8
Parking on offside at night 6
Contravening red traffic light 5
Unnecessary obstruction 3

From this site:
http://motors.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/motori ngmatters/article.aspx?aid=68038

So it does get enforced.

[Grunty]

Except with the permission of a police officer in uniform, a motor vehicle standing on a road between sunset and sunrise must have the left or nearside of the vehicle as close as may be to the edge of the carriageway. Exceptions include vehicles used for police, fire & ambulance purposes, taxi stands, bus stops, one way streets, emergency operations etc.
The vehicle also needs to show two white lights to the front and two red lights to the rear. Exceptions are if the speed limit is 30 m.p.h. or less, the vehicle is not within 10 metres of a junction and the vehicle is one of the following. Goods vehicles not exceeding 1525 kilos, passenger vehicles other than buses, invalid carriages and motorcycles with or without sidecars.

[joko]

anyone know why? seems pointless to me...

[Ethel]

Joko - if you think about it, it is obvious.

The red lights at the rear are reflective, making the vehicles position obvious to moving traffic with even dipped lights on.

[Thicko2006]

In Australia it is illegal to park on the offside of the road at any time of the day or night.