It Is Illegal to Park Next to Double White Lines.

YES IT IS. Click here if you don't believe me.


From the Highway code.
Section 240
You MUST NOT stop or park on
a road marked with double white lines,
except to pick up or set down passengers

That's what the red writing in the photo says, no it isn't written in the road but maybe it should be.

This photo was taken yesterday while I was waiting time on the Newton Road up near Scott's Bridge. Cars and vans have been parking in this section of road for some time now and I have never seen anything done to stop them parking here illegally. The problem I have with parking here is something from the world of chemistry called seeding. Once one crystal forms in a solution the rest follow very quickly. It is the same with parking. Once one car parks in a clear section of road, even illegally like this other cars drivers come along and think, "Oh look, he's parked there. It must be OK to park." The problem with double white lines and parking is it is something that does not require a No Parking notice like yellow lines do. The white lines are NO PARKING 24/7, the yellow lines work at different times and even on different days (a bit like bus drivers). Also double white lines might have been mentioned by your driving instructor in an of hand sort of way and didn't really seem important at the time. And Parking Attendants can not issue tickets for parking here, it is up to the police and most police officers don't know how to issue a parking ticket.

Given that this road is close to Torbay Hospital, which like all hospitals suffers from a lack of parking space it is only a matter of time before cars are parked all the way up to the bend. That's the bend with all the green stuff, I think it is called vegetation and is difficult to see even parked cars through. So one day a bus or other big vehicle is going to come round the bend and BANG!

The third car in the photo has a For Sale sign in the window so it has probably been here for a while.

6 Buses in one place + part of the reason.

This is Paignton Bus Station this afternoon and there are six number 12/12A s in a line. If all the buses were running to the time table there really should only be two max. But things have, as I have reported here several times recently, not been running well. Not our fault, honest. Road works that should have been finished 4 weeks ago are still holding buses up and as you can see in the picture below people parking their cars where they shouldn't just isn't helping. Unfortunately the driver of the white car had a good reason to be parked there outside the doctor's surgery. What reason? Oh yeah, "I'm just nipping in to see the doctor, I wont be a minute." The driver of the car believes that is a good reason even if No One Else does. Unfortunately No One Else wasn't there to object as the dirty deed was done and the bus came along later and got stuck. For several minutes at least, I was on the Bus Station when I heard about the problem and Midvale Road is 3 or 4 minutes fast walk away. Not that I walk fast these days. Not even to get a scoop like this one.

The guy in the Hi Vis jacket is the station controller trying to sort the mess out.