Monday 29 July 2013

A splendidly British solution

According to information available on the GOV.UK website: (https://www.gov.uk/waiting-and-parking/waiting-and-parking-238

You MUST NOT wait or park on yellow lines during the times of operation shown on nearby time plates (or zone entry signs if in a Controlled Parking Zone) – download ‘Traffic signs’ (PDF, 486KB) and ‘Road markings’ (PDF, 731KB). Double yellow lines indicate a prohibition of waiting at any time even if there are no upright signs. You MUST NOT wait or park, or stop to set down and pick up passengers, on school entrance markings (download ‘Road markings’ (PDF, 731KB)) when upright signs indicate a prohibition of stopping.
Today we are informed that consideration is being given to a clarification of that "Double yellow lines indicate a prohibition of waiting at any time" instruction - which according to the BBC doesn't actually mean what it says any way, because, say the BBC:-
Parking and waiting on double yellow lines is prohibited - unless stated - for all vehicles except for those making commercial deliveries and pick-ups, blue badge holders and the emergency services.
by having a new regulation which says that during the hours that trading establishments are open anyone may park for up to 15 minutes on double yellow lines outside or near to said trading establishments, with presumably this "you may stop for up to 15 minutes during the following hours" exemption from the "normal rules" being displayed on a sign on an upright immediately below the sign on the upright stating the "no stopping at any time" rule ...  You simply have to laugh, else ...

4 comments:

James Higham said...

If I don't ride on yellow lines, I get knocked down by traffic. Life v the law.

DBC Reed said...

Idea is worth a try. But JH has a point.

Bob E said...

"The idea is worth a try" was possibly the thought that followed on from the Pickles previous thought "I haven't been in the papers recently, I should come up with 'a back of fag packet sounds really good policy idea' that I can then quietly forget about and hope no one ever mentions again, when it is pointed out that 'the devil is in the detail' and I haven't considered any aspect of that and when the detail intervenes the idea doesn't come across as quite so 'brilliant'".

Perhaps it is "a good idea" but on the other hand, before going for "double yellow line exemption period rules" (which one assumes 'someone' will end up having to monitor to make sure no one overstays the allowed fifteen [or whatever] minutes, so probably even more traffic wardens, rather then fewer) why not first take a closer, objective look at whether those double yellows are actually needed?

As for JH's point about the yellows providing a "somewhat safer place in which to cycle" well he has my sympathy too ..

Bayard said...

My counter-idea to Mr P's is that every local authority should have a "no parking restrictions" week every year just to see what difference it makes, if any. I suspect there are many towns where a bypass or other road changes have made the parking restrictions obsolete, but nothing has been changed. Also many double-yellows are pointless: I used to live in a street barely wide enough to get a van down, yet it had double-yellows on both sides. I have seen a street in London with double yellows on both sides, that was too narrow to get a car into.