parking against the flow of traffic ?

demosuzki

hi all,

i did my driving training abroad where it definitely isn't allowed...

my question is
are you allow park on the 'wrong side of the road'
i.e. against the flow of traffic ?

its common enough practise
but so is double yellow lines and flashing warning lights !!

/ds

Talliesin

Not during the hours of darkness.

DubTony

It's ok to park against the flow during the daylight hours, but as soon as it gets dark everyone's supposed to go out and turn their cars around.

Crazy really. Why allow it in the first place? Because the Brits do it. Due to inadequate parking outside homes on narrow London streets parking against the flow has always been allowed. Our lot, in typical fashion, simply followed suit and probably didn't even know why.

Comical really, because most people aren't aware of the rule and I've never seen it or heard of it being enforced.

Tony

RuggieBear

i've learned something new...that's quite unbelievable but sums up the "driving" laws in this country u

unkel

Interesting - never knew that!

DubTony wrote:

Because the Brits do it

No surprise there. Don't crucify me but 90% of habits and 99% of law over here are British

We're improving though - liters, km/h and €

causal

And how many people know that when parking at night where there is no street lighting you should have your parking lights turned on.

Yep, now you know why they're called 'parking lights'

causal

Big Nelly

causal wrote:

And how many people know that when parking at night where there is no street lighting you should have your parking lights turned on.

Yep, now you know why they're called 'parking lights'

causal

You serious? sure by the time the morning came about the battery would be dead so you would have no lights then anyway!!

Dades

DubTony wrote:

Crazy really. Why allow it in the first place? Because the Brits do it. Due to inadequate parking outside homes on narrow London streets parking against the flow has always been allowed. Our lot, in typical fashion, simply followed suit and probably didn't even know why.

I don't get what it has to do with the Brits TBH.

Just maybe we allow it because we have our OWN congestion issues.

If I am really stuck for a space, and the only one is across the street and I think I can get into it without causing an accident - I'll go for it.
I don't think all the time while I'm parking "well if the brits can do it so can I".

Would one have a chip on one's shoulder?

dahamsta

Big Nelly wrote:

You serious? sure by the time the morning came about the battery would be dead so you would have no lights then anyway!!

No fully-functioning battery should run down that quickly on parking lights.

adam

prospect

I know a guy who used to do trucking on the continent way back when...
At night he would unscrew all the bulbs on the 'ditch' side of the truck/trailer to save the battery overnight!

Big Nelly

prospect wrote:

I know a guy who used to do trucking on the continent way back when...
At night he would unscrew all the bulbs on the 'ditch' side of the truck/trailer to save the battery overnight!

Cavan man was he? haha






by the way Im a cavan man so can slag my own kind

prospect

Big Nelly wrote:

Cavan man was he? haha

Actually, He's SCOTTISH!

causal

Big Nelly wrote:

You serious? sure by the time the morning came about the battery would be dead so you would have no lights then anyway!!

Yep. ROTR page 48:

PARKING AT NIGHT

• You should park in line with the traffic flow (i.e. on the left hand side of the road or on either side of a one way street)
• You should ensure that yor vehicle can be seen. This means that where no street lighting is available, parking lights are turned on. On no account should headlights be left on.

Several cars have the option of switching either the left or right side parking lights on, rather than both.

causal

Eoin

causal wrote:

Yep. ROTR page 48:
Several cars have the option of switching either the left or right side parking lights on, rather than both.

causal

Some cars (like mine) turn off the lights automatically when the key is taken out.

causal

Then I'd sell it if I were you
Are you sure you can't turn on your parking lights when the key is taken out - or is there a position on the ignition switch called 'P' or something similar?
I find it hard to believe the eurobots don't have a law mandating this.

causal

prospect

eoin_s wrote:

Some cars (like mine) turn off the lights automatically when the key is taken out.

In the 156'2 i have driven, to the right of the steering wheel, on the dash there is a switch, and twist it counter-clockwise to 11 o'clock and that will leave the parking lights on when the key is out and the car is locked.

BrianD

Parking in the direction of travel is the norm in many countries and should be the law here. Most good drivers will do it as a matter good driving practice. It is safer and leads to be better traffic flows. Having said that, in Ireland we need to start with learning how to park properly and then move onto parking in the direction of travel.

Paul (MN)

I got a fine once for parking the wrong direction on a Boston suburb side street. Somebody was employed to go around checking these things at 3am...

My 1984 Merc has a switch to select LHS or RHS parking lights.

cormie

how long would the lights last for does anyone know? I remember last year I was at Oxegen and went for a kip in my car because I was bunched and it was roasting. I left the door open for air and this meant the light on the ceiling was left on for a few hours. Didn't notice it until I was going home a few hours later (it was off for the few hours, it was just on while I was in the car) but the car wouldnt start when I got back in it to go home. Thankfully someone had the plugs, got it sorted in about 4 minutes:) don't want to be flat if I park it though!

dahamsta

If the battery's going flat off the courtesy light it's either on the way out anyway, or something else is wrong.

adam

Ernie Ball

Paul (MN) wrote:

I got a fine once for parking the wrong direction on a Boston suburb side street. Somebody was employed to go around checking these things at 3am...

Unlikely. Rather, someone (a cop) was employed to patrol the neighbourhood and, coming upon an obvious violation, ticketed it.

It makes perfect sense that parking against the flow of traffic is illegal in civilised countries because you have to do something illegal everywhere (drive against traffic) in order to do it. Indeed, you have to do it twice: once when parking and once when leaving.

causal

cormie wrote:

how long would the lights last for does anyone know?

I'm getting about 12 hours (if my calculations are correct):

Let's say 2 bulbs at 5 Watts each = 10 Watts;
at 12 V this will draw a current of 0.83A (i.e. 10W/12V)
Assuming a battery rated at 10AH => 12 Hours (i.e. 10AH/0.83A)

causal

cormie

causal wrote:

I'm getting about 12 hours (if my calculations are correct):

Let's say 2 bulbs at 5 Watts each = 10 Watts;
at 12 V this will draw a current of 0.83A (i.e. 10W/12V)
Assuming a battery rated at 10AH => 12 Hours (i.e. 10AH/0.83A)

causal

ahhh.. I don't know how to go about checking mine