Was this illegal or just plain disgraceful?

Sometimes I just despair. Today Mutawintji brought some timber over to me for transportation to the Blue Mountains GTG. (Full info here:https://www.woodworkforums.com/f25/bl...7/index11.html

I had left my trayback in the road outside the house as a recognition point. When he arrived he backed up his station wagon so he could unload the timber straight onto my vehicle.

By the time I noticed he was there he had unloaded and I invited him in to have a cuppa. We got talking of course and it was a good two hours later that we went back to the vehicles. He had a an infringement notice on the windscreen for $40.

Neither of us had our reading glasses on, but I assume it was for the vehicle facing the wrong direction.

Greg was extremely philosophical about it, but I have to say I was incensed because I felt embarrassed that a visitor should be treated that way.

On the face of it the vehicle was parked illegally, but I have enclosed some shots of how it was using another vehicle to indicate the positions. The road is approximately four cars wide and it is a divided road. The road was deserted in a country town of 1000 people and it is Saturday morning.

What happens is the Dalby police send their new recruits over to us with instructions to book people. We have had instances of people being booked for not locking their cars and having their windows wound down more than the prescribed 50mm. Hell we leave our houses unlocked and the keys in the cars.

Is it any wonder the police experience animosity directed towards them. Myself, I despair.

Attachment 265248Attachment 265249Attachment 265251

I should add that Greg had parked a lot more neatly than I did.

Regards
Paul

I got booked once for parking in the wrong direction, but the ticket actually said "parking to far from the curb" . :doh: It was in a narrow Fleming ton road that only one line of cars could drive down the middle of the road between the cars parked on the side. What direction they were facing hardly seemed to make much difference. They obviously don't really have a law about parking in the wrong direction, cos they had to call it something else.

Just as an aside I think Henry Glapthorne was right. Thanks Arthur :).

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f55/no...please-169738/

Regards
Paul

Jaysus, what a joke. How the hell did you take that middle pic with all that life threatening traffic? I would love to have had one of my devastating logic sessions with the fool that issued that.

In some perverted way it's reassuring to see that Joh's Police State is still alive and well.

Tell you what though, I'll not have a fella who's driven all that way to provide timber for me err, us, having to pay the fine. No doubt he'll not accept the cash, but I have a cunning, and inescapable plan.

Paul - I recognise that street :)

Re; The ticket, another case of the law being an ass?

Maybe the guys from the GTG could chip in a $ each and pay it?

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Originally Posted by tea lady

I got booked once for parking in the wrong direction, but the ticket actually said "parking to far from the curb" . :doh: It was in a narrow Fleming ton road that only one line of cars could drive down the middle of the road between the cars parked on the side. What direction they were facing hardly seemed to make much difference. They obviously don't really have a law about parking in the wrong direction, cos they had to call it something else.

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Ackershully, they cited the violation correctly. They measure from the passenger side to the LH kerb... so you were a streets' width away... :D

Still stupid, but.

I've been done for that once too in quiet suburbia and was spewin'. It wasn't until a few years later when I heard about how my Yr12 art teacher was killed that I understood why.

(Granted, these are entirely different circumstances than a middle of the day offense, but still...)

He was assisting someone who's car had broken down on a country road at night. He had his car on the wrong side of the road side facing the wrong direction so his headlights were illuminating the area around the other car.

Another car came along the road and the driver got confused about the headlights and was trying to stay on the "right" side (left) of them...consequently plowing into everything, including my teacher and killing him.

I've been similarly confused and almost ran off the road on the way to Mildura once when a train was coming towards me on the left, from in front, with a horrendously bright light which was considerably blinding my vision. I was trying to keep on the left of it while at the same time wondering why the hell I was running off the bitumen. I was actually getting a bit freaked out about being unable to avoid what I thought was going to be a head on collision if I couldn't avoid the idiot on hi beam coming towards me.

I suppose The Man has to try to stop it happening at all times of the day in all situations so folks don't think it's ok to do at all for exactly the reasons above.

A quick hunt around shows that it is illegal or at the very least is an offense to park against the flow of traffic.

It's illegal to park like that. I grew up in a town with 900 people and that was the local copper's pet hate. He'd regularly book people for it. We didn't even have concrete gutters to park at.

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Originally Posted by RedShirtGuy

I suppose The Man has to try to stop it happening at all times of the day in all situations so folks don't think it's ok to do at all for exactly the reasons above.

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Yeeeaaah, or, um, raise revenue? Just a thought.

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Originally Posted by RedShirtGuy

A quick hunt around shows that it is illegal or at the very least is an offense to park against the flow of traffic.

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Yes, but doesn't there have to be your actual flow of traffic for that to stand up?

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Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Ackershully, they cited the violation correctly. They measure from the passenger side to the LH kerb... so you were a streets' width away... :D

Still stupid, but.

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I do love a bit of devastating logic :roflmao2:

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Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Ackershully, they cited the violation correctly. They measure from the passenger side to the LH kerb... so you were a streets' width away... :D

Still stupid, but.

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Yep, if parked must be within a foot of the kerb.

Skew is perfectly correct in how the ticket is worded and it's illegal according Vic Roads road laws.

The way the car is parked is also prima facie evidence that the driver broke another law of having driven the wrong way to park that way and will do again when leaving. For that he could have been fined as well with 3 demerit points.

It has happened to a mate of mine. Fined for parking the wrong way and twice for driving the wrong way (coming based on how the car was parked and going the police saw him driving away). He went to court and lost. Enormous fine and court costs as well as two lots of 3 demerit points.

With common road laws that would also apply in Queensland.

Peter.

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The road is approximately four cars wide and it is a divided road.

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I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but I have to agree with the police on this one. Greg is technically facing the wrong way in a "one way street".

Sturdee posted at the same time.

Personally, I think the ticket's a bit rough.

The mistake was to leave the cars unattended... bit hard to say you're unloading if there's no-one in sight. And if you didn't see him coming or going, then odds are he didn't see you blokes either. It's really just ###### timing. (and a ###### law. But still. Henry Glapthorne and all that. :D)

Whilst I agree that in this case it was probably a bit over the top, I can appreciate or understand the reasoning for the fine or law as it can lead to disastrous circumstances.

I have been witness to several aftermaths of people parking on the wrong side due to living in country areas, whilst not being highways they still have 100 kph on most country roads outside of towns.