Hi Guys and gals, Just a quick question, I haven't read the highway code in such a long time, so regarding the picture below, if the road markings themself are at the side of the road rather than the middle, is it illegal to park on them?

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f126/butler007/11b.jpg

We have that marking on our street, in a wedge/triangle from the kerb to the edge of protruding traffic-calming / road-narrowing things. I think the idea is that the markings make you less likely to plough into the large iron bollards on the t-c/r-n things?!?

Anyway, we park on them with impunity. Not that I've ever seen a single ticket issued locally other than by car tax death squads.

yeah we have them on a slip road/bridge which lately is turning into more of a car park so I was wondering whether a complaint to the council would be worth it. It's getting quite dangerous of late with cars badly parked and protruding all over the place

I'd imagine that dangerous parking is dangerous parking, and there wouldn't be a requirement for explicit 'no parking' signage/markings to establish this.

If I'm interpreting your situation correctly then it certainly sounds dangerous. Last thing you want on a slip road, when you're spending a lot of time looking right/behind you, is to have to consider the possibility of a car pulling out in front.

it's not so much them pulling out on people, more just the way in which they are parked, that obstructs the flow of traffic, there are no weight limits on the road, but you certianly couldn't get a 7.5 tonner down there at times let alone anything else. to Show you the road situation I mean I have screen shot google earth (I hope that's allowed) and highlighted the road in question in red, with the places they normally park in green. I'm really not sure if the council will be able to do anything about it or not, I've got to go past there tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to get a picture of the problem to send to the council to see about getting something done.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f126/butler007/parking.jpg

Ah, okay.

Looks as though the bridge might have been intended for two way traffic, but they changed their minds during construction so have painted those markings to 'enforce' a single lane?

I'm surprised that parking is tolerated. If a 44 tonner breaks down then the road could easily become impassable. If there's an accident then a fire engine could have extreme difficulty getting past something even moderately broad.

That pic looks familiar - where abouts is it? the A12 / M11 link?

It's the a1020 sort of at the end of the a406 in docklands. The a1020 connects the a406 with the woolwich ferry. The cars that park there are all from the docklands uel

It's the a1020 sort of at the end of the a406 in docklands. The a1020 connects the a406 with the woolwich ferry. The cars that park there are all from the docklands uel

I knew I'd been there when I lived in London.

My understanding of those markings is that you can go on them if necessary but you should not if there is an alternative. I think parking is a real no no.

This will have been done to stop traffic build up - the road will have been built as 2 lanes and then merged into 1 causing tail backs on the main road.

This should help:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/Signsandmarkings/index.htm

Rule 130:
130

Areas of white diagonal stripes or chevrons painted on the road. These are to separate traffic lanes or to protect traffic turning right.

if the area is bordered by a broken white line, you should not enter the area unless it is necessary and you can see that it is safe to do so
if the area is marked with chevrons and bordered by solid white lines you MUST NOT enter it except in an emergency
Good web resource, that link. Worth a look around.

Solid white line, or broken you can't legally park in it.

I've been in touch with the local council today and they say that it is not their responsibility, the local police station have also said the same. So if they aren't responsible who would be responsible for it so I can contact someone? I did ask the council this and they just said they don't know.

Where I live the county council is responsible for the roads. Not sure about London...

Rule 130:
130

Areas of white diagonal stripes or chevrons painted on the road. These are to separate traffic lanes or to protect traffic turning right.

if the area is bordered by a broken white line, you should not enter the area unless it is necessary and you can see that it is safe to do so
if the area is marked with chevrons and bordered by solid white lines you MUST NOT enter it except in an emergency

Saw that yesterday, but thought it applied only to 'in the road' stuff rather than 'side of the road' stuff. Couldn't see anything in the Highway Code that seemed applicable in this case.

Would it have killed 'them' to have put some 'no parking' signage/markings in place?

Hi this is the only picture I could get of how bad the parking is, in the distance you can see a white van which is parked really badly, jutting out across the road, to get through there today I had to slow down to the point where the speed wasn't registering on my speedo, a white van behind me I think it was a sprinter, had no chance of getting through and ended up blocking the road completely. although there are markings on the right to suggest parking is allowed, there are no such markings on the left, or indeed further down where that van is as well as multiple other vehicles.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f126/butler007/park.jpg

Certainly where the Mazda is looks like parking bays to me - I can't see any chevrons there.

yeah on the right does look like parking spaces. But a little further down on the left there are White hatch markings. And further down on the right the parking spaces cease but they still park even where the road narrows which is the main problem.

The solid white line on the right is the demarcation of the main highway. As there is no hatching to the right it should be legal to part there provided there is no signage to the contrary.

Contact Transport for London - I think they are responsible.