Parking
Regulations
Parking it some towns can be a nightmare at the best of times with hot-headed
traffic wardens going for records and more double yellow lines than you can shake
a parking ticket at! Knowing where you can park can save you time and money so
heres our guide to what all those lines really mean, where you can and cannot
park and how long you can stay.
Motorists parking their cars are not the only ones who must obey the law and regulations.
Councils can only make parking regulations (known as “Traffic Regulation
Orders” or “Traffic Management Orders”) and enforce parking
contraventions in accordance with the law. For example, councils must comply with
regulations that say how parking controls are signed.
Under
the decriminalised scheme brought in by the Road Traffic Act 1991, when a vehicle
is, for example, parked on a yellow line during controlled hours, it is said to
be parked ‘in contravention of the regulations’. Thus there are no
offences, merely contraventions.
PCN
Contravention Codes – On Street Parking
CODE - DESCRIPTION
01 Parking in a restricted street during prescribed
hours
02 Parking or loading/unloading in a restricted
street where waiting and loading/unloading restrictions are in force
04 Parking in a meter bay when penalty time
is indicated
05 Parking after the expiry of paid for time
at a pay & display** bay
06 Parking without clearly displaying a valid
pay & display ticket**
07 Parking with payment made to extend the
stay beyond initial time (‘meter feeding’)
08 Parking at an out-of-order meter during
controlled hours
09 Parking displaying multiple pay & display
tickets where prohibited
10 Parking without clearly displaying two**** valid
pay and display tickets when required.
15 Parking in a residents’ parking space without
clearly displaying a valid residents’ parking permit
16 Parking in a permit space without displaying
a valid permit
20 Parking in a loading gap marked by a yellow
line
21 Parking in a suspended bay/space or part
of bay/space
22 Re-parking in the same parking place within
one hour* of leaving
23 Parking in a parking place or area not
designated for that class of vehicle
24 Not parking correctly within the markings
of the bay or space
25 Parking in a loading place during restricted
hours without loading
26 (London only) Vehicle parking more than
50 cm from the kerb and not within a designated parking place
27 (London only) Parking adjacent to a dropped
footway
30 Parking for longer than permitted
31 (London only) Entering and stopping in
a box junction when prohibited
32 (London only) Failing to drive in the direction
shown by the arrow on a blue sign
33 (London only) Using a route restricted
to certain vehicles
34 (London only) Vehicle seen contravening
bus lane regulations
35 Parked in a disc parking place without
clearly displaying a valid disc
36 Parking in a disc parking place for longer
than permitted
37 (London only) Failing to comply with a
give way to oncoming vehicles sign
40 Parking in a designated disabled person’s
parking place without clearly displaying a valid disabled person’s badge.
41 Parking in a parking place designated for
diplomatic vehicles
42 Parking in a parking place designated for
police vehicles
45 Parking on a taxi rank
46 Parking on a clearway where stopping is
prohibited
47 Parking on a restricted bus stop/stand
48 Stopped in a restricted area outside a
school***
49 Parking wholly or partly on a cycle track
50 (London only) Failing to comply with a
sign indicating a prohibited turn
51 (London only) Failing to comply with a
no entry sign
52 (London only) Failing to comply with a
sign indicating a prohibition on certain types of vehicle
53 (London only) Failing to comply with a
sign indicating a restriction on vehicles entering a pedestrian zone
54 (London only) Failing to comply with a
sign indicating a restriction on vehicles entering and waiting in a pedestrian
zone
55 A commercial vehicle parked in a restricted
street in contravention of the Overnight Waiting Ban
56 Parked in contravention of a commercial
vehicle waiting restriction
57 Parking in contravention of a coach ban
58 (London only) Using a vehicle on a restricted
street during prescribed hours without a valid permit
59 (London only) Using a vehicle on a restricted
street during prescribed hours in breach of permit conditions
61 A heavy commercial vehicle wholly or partly
parked on a footway, verge or land between two carriageways
62 Parking with one or more wheels on any
part of an urban road other than a carriageway (footway parking)
63 Parking with engine running where prohibited
99 (London only) Stopped on a pedestrian crossing
and/or crossing area marked by zig-zags
70 Parking in a loading area during restricted
hours without reasonable excuse
77 - - - RESERVED FOR DVLA USE - - -
80 Parking for longer than the maximum period
permitted
81 Parking in a restricted area in a car park
82 Parking after the expiry of time paid for
in a pay & display** car park
83 Parking in a pay & display** car park without
clearly displaying a valid pay & display ticket** or parking clock
84 Parking with additional payment made to
extend the stay beyond time first purchased
85 Parking in a permit bay without clearly
displaying a valid permit
86 Parking beyond the bay markings
87 Parking in a disabled person’s parking
space without clearly displaying a valid disabled person’s badge
88 - - - DELETED - - -
89 Vehicle parking exceeds maximum weight
and/or height permitted in the area
90 Re-parking within one hour* of leaving
a bay or space in a car park
91 Parking in an area not designated for that
class of vehicle
92 Parking causing an obstruction
93 Parking in car park when closed
94 Parking in a pay and display car park without
clearly displaying two****valid pay and display tickets when required
* Or other specified time
** Or voucher
*** Sometimes applies during term time only
**** Or other number
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These
are regulations where parking is generally not allowed at
particular times (or even at all times). Examples are yellow
lines where vehicles may not be parked during controlled hours.
In most places there will be exemptions from the regulations,
for example Blue Badge holders may be able to park whilst
clearly displaying their badge and clock. Additionally, loading
or unloading is likely to be allowed (unless it is expressly
banned). |
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Here
the regulations allow vehicles to park, usually in a bay,
under certain conditions, for example upon payment in a
meter or by purchasing a pay and display voucher. Alternatively,
some parking bays are reserved for specific users (and the
vehicle will have to display a permit), such a resident
parking, business, doctor or trader. At other locations,
only certain types of vehicle may park there, for example
coaches. Parking may even be free but subject to a time
limit, perhaps 20 minutes with no return for two hours.
Vehicles must park properly within the marked bays. Whenever
you want to park in a bay you must check the adjacent signs
and that you are parked completely within the bay markings.
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Councils
can operate car parks that will also have regulations. They can
provide for the type of vehicle that can use the car park, maximum
length of stay, special bays, such as for Blue Badge holders and
places where vehicles may not park. Car parks operate various
systems for payment collection; in some, you must first buy a
ticket and display it in the car, in others you pay when you leave.
In some car parks, contraventions of the regulations are enforced
by Parking Attendants issuing Penalty Charge Notices. These can
be challenged in same way as if the Penalty Charge Notice had
been issued to a vehicle parked in the street
Double
yellow lines mean that parking is restricted 24 hours a day, 7
days a week (in other words ‘at any time’). With effect from 31
January 2003 councils are not required to erect a sign plate to
accompany an ‘at any time’ restriction. In some areas, (for example
holiday resorts), the ‘at any time’ restriction may apply for
only part of the year, although this must be for at least four
consecutive months. In these cases a sign, showing the duration
of the restriction, will be erected.
A
single yellow line on the road means that, at some time of the
day, there will be parking restrictions.
If
the single yellow line is within a controlled parking zone, you
can assume that it operates for the same time as the zone unless
separate time plates show different times. A Controlled Parking
Zone (CPZ) is an area where parking is restricted by Traffic Regulation
Orders (Traffic Management Orders in London), in accordance with
signs placed on all vehicular entry points to the area (except
in designated parking bays or where otherwise signed).
For
example, in a controlled parking zone which runs from 8.30 am
to 6.30 pm, a yellow line without any separate time plates will
be operational at those times and a driver may not park. An exception
to this rule allows a passenger to get in or out of the car, although
the driver should not leave the car, unless the passenger is disabled
and needs assistance or is a young child.
Guidelines
for loading and unloading:
- Drivers
are usually allowed to stop to load or unload. If the items
are heavy or bulky or if the driver has a large number of items
which would involve more than one trip, the car is allowed to
wait on the yellow line. But the car should be moved and parked
legally when the loading or unloading is finished.
- Commercial
vehicles are allowed to collect and deliver goods. If any paperwork
needs to be checked, such as delivery notes or invoices, the
time this takes can be included in the loading/unloading time
allowed. Obviously, the vehicle must be moved after the delivery
or collection has taken place.
-
Loading is not permitted at places where the parked car could
cause an obstruction, such as within 10 metres of a junction.
-
Sometimes, within a parking place, there is a yellow line called
a “loading gap”. The same rules as above apply to
this yellow line.
-
Often there will be yellow ‘blips’ on the kerb.
These warn that there is a loading restriction. Two ‘blips’
mean no loading ‘at any time’. One ‘blip’
means that loading is restricted at certain times, as shown
on a white plate. Even Blue Badge holders with badges and time
clocks are not allowed to park where there are loading restrictions
in force.
 
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