Growing number of cars parking on wrong side of the road

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Growing number of cars parking on wrong side of the road

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#3262772 22-Jul-2024 12:45

I suspect that comment is going to be controversial. Personally I drive in forwards: I find it more convenient to go forwards into the narrow space and then backwards into the comparatively-wide street. The real problem I have with people backing in is when they don't bother indicating.

richms

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#3262835 22-Jul-2024 13:34

coffeebaron:

We all know that courier drivers have their own road rules! Same if you turn those magical flashing lights on, then you can park however and whereever you like :)

Council need to provide for loading zones in residential areas if they are to not do that. Would rather they have the hazards on and deliver rather than the alternative which is to make people collect from depot.

Richard rich.ms

alasta

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#3262898 22-Jul-2024 14:04

jonathan18: I find couriers are some of the worst offenders for parking the wrong way. They’ll also often drive off at a really shallow angle, driving on the wrong side of the road for quite some time (often on their phone!).

I live in a townhouse complex with private roadways that operate on a one-way system. We have a 20km/h speed limit as the roadways are narrow and often have people or pets walking on them.

Courier drivers regularly speed and go the wrong way on our roadways. When approached it is clear that they don't care.

We have written to the courier companies and, although it won't change their behaviour, at least it provides some leverage for a prosecution if and when a tragedy happens.

johno1234

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#3262903 22-Jul-2024 14:23

John19612:

There needs to be a crackdown on the fools that reverse into parks. It should be made illegal like it is for reversing into angled parks.

Huh? You *have* to reverse into a (parallel) park on the street. Idiots drive in forwards then have 10 goes at trying to get close to the kerb but still end up 3 feet away from it.

Parks that are at right angles such as supermarket car parks are not found on streets. Reversing is acceptable. Driving straight in requires swinging in from very wide and then you just end up at an angle like this |/| so you end up reversing out and back in again, so worse than just reversing into it in the first place. I always reverse into right angle carparks if possible. After all, if you drive in forwards then you are just kicking the reversing can down the road to when you leave and you have to reverse out into traffic which is worse than reversing in to a park.

mattwnz

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#3262911 22-Jul-2024 15:03

I try to avoid any car parks where doors open onto the sides of other cars, as at some point you will likely end up with damage to the side of your car. So will usually park on the road in parallel carparks

Scott3

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#3262936 22-Jul-2024 15:56

In Auckland, parking enforcement has a few quirks:

My suburb as a time limit / permit system which is enforced tightly via white hatchbacks which drive in a route with numberplate (and valve stem position) detection camera's.
Footpath, driveway blocking, wrong side etc parking only seem to be enforced if somebody reports it, and a car is sent out.
For some reason time limits in some parks are not enforced (leading to some of them being filled by commuters early in the morning).
Dating back to 2012, Auckland transport doesn't enforce parking on grass verges, unless they have put explicit signs, People are slowly working this out and exploiting more often. Quite problematic as Auckland soil easily turns onto a mudbath in winter.

And this issue is nationwide

Levels of parking fines are hardcoded into central government legislation, and inflation has eaten into them to a point where it is the cost of the fine multiplied by the odds of getting caught are worth it for people, so they are no longer an effective determent.

And of course, there are a bunch of people who just base their behavior off whatever the societal norm is, so if there are many car's parked on the footpath, they will assume it is the local etiquette and match the behavior.

Sadly the net result of this is quite a mess. Was at the fairly new playground Hayman Park playground (south Auckland) yesterday. The nice gras strip circled below is now a mud bath in every gap between palm trees large enough to fit a car. Multiple cars parked on footpath's, and driver thought it was a good idea to drive along the footpath (to the left of the parked cars in the image) for hundreds of meters. And there is no shortage of parking here. Massive open air & multistory parking building just across the road.

Sadly we either need to increase enforcement (and penalties via a central government law change), or start designing our urban environments for greater protection from harm from vehicles (very tall kerbs, bollards everywhere etc.)

mattwnz

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#3262940 22-Jul-2024 16:01

You would think that they would want to be giving out fines to increase government income. That will then help fund our public services and roads. Paying someone to go around picking up these problems will more than pay for itself. Although fines seem to be pretty low these days. $150 for not wearing a seatbelt seems very low. I am not sure if parking wardens can fine people like they seem to be able to do if your warrant of fitness or license is expired.

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mattwnz

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#3262949 22-Jul-2024 16:09

Scott3:

In Auckland, parking enforcement has a few quirks:

My suburb as a time limit / permit system which is enforced tightly via white hatchbacks which drive in a route with numberplate (and valve stem position) detection camera's.
Footpath, driveway blocking, wrong side etc parking only seem to be enforced if somebody reports it, and a car is sent out.
For some reason time limits in some parks are not enforced (leading to some of them being filled by commuters early in the morning).
Dating back to 2012, Auckland transport doesn't enforce parking on grass verges, unless they have put explicit signs, People are slowly working this out and exploiting more often. Quite problematic as Auckland soil easily turns onto a mudbath in winter.
And this issue is nationwide

Levels of parking fines are hardcoded into central government legislation, and inflation has eaten into them to a point where it is the cost of the fine multiplied by the odds of getting caught are worth it for people, so they are no longer an effective determent.

And of course, there are a bunch of people who just base their behavior off whatever the societal norm is, so if there are many car's parked on the footpath, they will assume it is the local etiquette and match the behavior.

Sadly the net result of this is quite a mess. Was at the fairly new playground Hayman Park playground (south Auckland) yesterday. The nice gras strip circled below is now a mud bath in every gap between palm trees large enough to fit a car. Multiple cars parked on footpath's, and driver thought it was a good idea to drive along the footpath (to the left of the parked cars in the image) for hundreds of meters. And there is no shortage of parking here. Massive open air & multistory parking building just across the road.

Sadly we either need to increase enforcement (and penalties via a central government law change), or start designing our urban environments for greater protection from harm from vehicles (very tall kerbs, bollards everywhere etc.)

That is partly bad road design. But I know grass roundabouts in residential areas without a kerb, that have ended up like that with a big muddy mess as trucks especially just cut across it. Sometimes because it can be too tight for them to turn. But also because they don't care and they drive around at speed. People also parking in the middle of the residential roundabouts is something I am seeing as well. If we had a 'dob in a driver' where people could make some money by taking photos of offenders and reporting them through a website, it could be a win-win situation. Taking a photo of a car parked on the wrong side of the road is a pretty cut and dry offense.

alasta

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#3262954 22-Jul-2024 16:22

Personally, I think people have a social responsibility to report nuisance parking when they see it in their local neighbourhood. When councils start getting frequent complaints from particular areas then they might start being more proactive.

boosacnoodle

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#3262958 22-Jul-2024 16:27

Crank the fees up by at least ten-fold. Go have a look at infringements in AU then come back to me if you think I am being unreasonable.

Behodar

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#3262963 22-Jul-2024 16:49

Seen just now - it seems that whoever lives there has got frustrated enough to acquire some cones!

old3eyes

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#3262964 22-Jul-2024 16:50

mattwnz:

Anyone noticed a growing number of cars parking on the right side of the road? It is especially dangerous at night as cars don't have reflectors on the front. It is common in the UK to park on both sides of the roads, but I understand it is illegal in NZ. But it doesn't seem to be getting policed. https://www.nzta.govt.nz/roadcode/general-road-code/about-driving/stopping-and-parking/where-not-to-park/

It's a British thing. They park on any side of the road there.

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#3262965 22-Jul-2024 16:51

johno1234:

John19612:

There needs to be a crackdown on the fools that reverse into parks. It should be made illegal like it is for reversing into angled parks.

Huh? You *have* to reverse into a (parallel) park on the street. Idiots drive in forwards then have 10 goes at trying to get close to the kerb but still end up 3 feet away from it.

It's the way you have to do it if it's tested in your driving test.

John19612

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#3262967 22-Jul-2024 17:00

Handle9:

johno1234:

Huh? You *have* to reverse into a (parallel) park on the street. Idiots drive in forwards then have 10 goes at trying to get close to the kerb but still end up 3 feet away from it.

It's the way you have to do it if it's tested in your driving test.

An action so obvious it wasn't worth mentioning.

Scott3

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#3262968 22-Jul-2024 17:00

boosacnoodle:

Crank the fees up by at least ten-fold. Go have a look at infringements in AU then come back to me if you think I am being unreasonable.

We need to stop hard coding fines into legislation.

And instead establish a Table, which a government minister is tasked with refreshing each year.

For example, parking facing the wrong way could be a tier 7 fine, parking on a pedestrian crossing could be a tier 12 fine.

Would get rid of the current crazy situation where driving in a bus is a $150 fine, but parking in said lane is just $60.

Not sure if 10x would be politically palatable, but it is still comparable with some parts of Australia, plus they get demerit points for parking offenses.

Lets use footpath parking as an example:

For NZ: Currently $40, would become $400.

For NSW: 3 demerit points, AU$349 fine. (NZD388)

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