parking the smart way - legal?

[darkcat]

im sure this has been covered, but will ask anyway.

im 2 weeks into smart ownership and yesturday i parked the way smarts are supposed to be - nose-in to the kurb. (right outside my shop!)

obviously it got a few comments such as "your arguing with normality" and "nice one!" etc.

But a friend said that it may be possible to get a ticket for parking like that???

Now outside the shop there are no yellow lines, and this road basically always has cars parked down one side, making it a single lane, you know what i mean.
as i was parked between 2 normal cars, my back end probably protruded 6" past the side of their cars, but leaving plenty of space for lorrys etc to get past with no clearance issues at all.

my friend said something about reflectors etc, but ive had a look at the highway code and cant see anything.

might have a word with my friendly local traffic warden (obviously i'll check that nobody sees me talking to him )

[10:45PM]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

Some idiot might just go past thinking all the cars were out of reach damagewise, and clonk your car!! , like they do with wing mirrors, still it's your car, not mine dark evenings and all that:redface:, - mind you again it's your car, not mine

but the main thing you're doing wrong is you have to reverse out on to a main road and that is 'not recommended' in the highwaycode, so park it arse end in first

Yours is without lines, but I've had a parking idiot when I've been parking normally in a allowable parking slot, tell me though the wheels were in the lines the car body wasn't ! and I had to repark it so the car was in the line
Have you no other restrictions in place ? like signs ?

[137699]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

I'm pretty sure I heard a few years ago (long before I ever actually owned a smart) that parking at 90 degrees to the kerb in the UK is illegal, irrespective of how short the car is, unless the road is marked with parking bays which do allow you to park perpendicular to the kerb.

I'm not 100% sure on that, but it's the reason why I've never risked it in our fortwo (& the roadster is too long anyway!).

[Thrumbleux]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

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[darkcat]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

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?????

[lil.smartie]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

Was once asked by a traffic cop in Slough if I should have parked 'like that' my reply was what do you think? he said I was in the lines, had reversed in and it was daytime so fine! Night time I 'could' need some reflectors on the sides...

Kate

[Tramp]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

well reflectors aren't expensive, http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/12-Piece-Orang...item45f6afd616

better safe than sorry eh?
Although they might ruin the 'lines' of your smart!

I think the rules for reflectors are the same as for lights, rear facing ones red, side facing ones orange and front facing ones white

[MrPoo]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

I would ask a local traffic warden.

In Rugby, the bays are usually too narrow in town. I can park nose/arse in on Bex' street, just, but Honky is too long.

If I'm in Leamington, it's pretty much the norm, I've seen a fair number of fortwo's parked like that and a traffic warden confirmed they were happy for me to do so.

[coolfart]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

You are better off 'having a quiet word' with a local traffic warden to see how they would react to it! Some will just ignore it, others may well give you a ticket........there are a couple of problems with parking like this:

1. As mentioned, you shouldn't really reverse into a main road.......BUT....

2. Your tax disc (and any parking permit/ticket) should be visible to traffic wardens from the kerb...which it clearly wouldn't be if you park 'back in', to make it easier to exit!

We have parked a whole row of smarts like this on a meet before, without any bother....provided the road is a decent width!!

[10:45PM]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

2. Your tax disc (and any parking permit/ticket) should be visible to traffic wardens from the kerb...which it clearly wouldn't be if you park 'back in', to make it easier to exit!!

One potential less parking warden

Surely for a parking warden to be interested in checking this, the road would have to be lined

Now outside the shop there are no yellow lines,

[MrPoo]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

Now, as I understood it, your rear lights have to be visible from the road as they contain the reflectors (note the difference on the <Mk5 rear lights) so arse in wouldn't work?!?

I've left my side lights on when parked at night before (which is technically a legal requirement for parking contraflow anywho)

[darkcat]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

lets not forget that a lot of places have marked bays that are either at 45% to the road or more.... i regularly parked in a street in stafford, just outside the court house where there where end-on bays.....

I think the whole subject could be seen as a "grey area" and will be very much dependent on what mood the traffic warden is in.

I mean if its clearly in the way and taking the p**s then yes, a ticket may well be valid.

I have actually had 3 tickets in the past, only 1 of which i have paid - it always pays to argue. (different cars though)

My next challenge is to park 2 smarts in a single pay and display bay and buy one ticket :-D

[darkcat]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

I think this has come up in the past....

Each car even if parked in a single bay has to display a valid ticket .. booo

Photocopy? :goodlk:

[JAKEMM]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

Motorbikes can park absolutely fine like this, in fact I can't think of one that I've seen park level with the curb and the same rules must apply to them.

In France I believe there is an actual law against parking like this, but I don't think there's any specific law in the UK, so it's just a case of seeing how things are interpreted.

I park daily at Uni in a car park space that has a lamp post in the middle of it. As such no normal car can fit in, but I can by parking sideways. When there's a traffic warden on duty and the car park is full, they've stopped all other cars entering but let me go past in order to use that space.

When it comes to actually parking on the road like that, I have done a few times but only when I wouldn't stick out further than the other cars. Sometimes there's very narrow cars parked and so it looks like I don't fit in even though I do. If there's a few 4x4's, I can normally fit in and not really draw much attention. I wouldn't purposely park like that though unless there wasn't space to park normally.

I think it's great if you're worried about scratching your alloys though as you can reverse back until your tyres are actually touching the curb without having to worry about scratching your wheels parallel parking.

[SailSussex]

Re: parking the smart way - legal?

Photocopy? :goodlk:

Yeah, but then you have to buy a ticket for the bay where you have parked your photocopier

Seriously though, my understanding is that you need to show a red reflector towards traffic coming towards you on your side of the road, or show side lights if you are not showing a red reflector towards on coming traffic.

Strictly speaking you are not allowed to reverse into traffic, although many of us do it all the time from driveways etc. :silvertri Now you may think you could just put a red reflector on the nearside front wing and park arse end in - no, red reflectors to the rear, white to the front and amber to the side! There are also regulations as to the heights and distance in from the end of the vehicle. :wag:

So, park nose in so your rear red reflectors are facing the traffic and if you are nervous about reversing into a carriageway just drive forwards down the pavement, avoiding prams and zimmer frames, until you find a convenient gap, such as a pelican crossing, where you can emerge forwards into the traffic. :goodlk:

Job done