New Zealander paints his own parking restrictions

A New Zealand man who has unlawfully painted yellow line parking restrictions outside his house in Wellington for the last 20 years says he has done so to improve road safety and to protest against gentrification.

Russell Taylor said it was necessary to stop cars from parking dangerously in an increasingly busy street. The city council says the lines are illegal and will be removed.

Mr Taylor has lived on Holloway Road since 1979, he says he has painted the lines intermittently over the last two decades when the parking problem in his street has become especially bad.

The roads have changed a lot since he has lived there and a lot more people now have cars. Mr Taylor sees it as a protest against the failure of the council to take action.

"Cars park on blind corners, and on occasions fire lorries and rubbish collection vehicles have been unable to turn around because vehicles are parked on both sides of the road.

"More recently we have had the additional problem of drivers going far too fast down our narrow street."

A city council spokesman, Richard MacLean, told Stuff New Zealand that it was aware there was a parking problem in Holloway Road, and it will shortly be discussed by residents and councillors.

The spokesman added that it was unlikely that Mr Taylor would be punished for his long-running, unofficial road-marking campaign.

How leaves on the road could save you from a parking ticket

In winter sometimes fallen leaves can obscure yellow lines, resulting in drivers receiving parking fines for stopping on roads where they thought that it was ok to park.

If leaves are obscuring lines on an un-spwept roads it is worth being aware that this is grounds for appealing a parking ticket, but only if certain conditions are met.

This is because it is the responsibility of local councils to keep roads clean with parking restrictions clearly visible. If the lines were covered by leaves and there was no relevant signage close to your vehicle then you have a good chance of having the ticket overturned.

In order to appeal  you need to do the following upon finding the parking fine. 

• look for signs that state the restrictions. (If there’s one right next to your car then your appeal is likely to fail).
• Measure its distance from your car to the nearest signage. (One pace = around a metre) 
• Take a picture of your car in relation to the sign
• Take a photograph of the road showing that the lines are obscured by leaves or flooding.

Most phones will embed Exif data on the image, this information can be used to prove the location and time that the photo was taken. This could be vital in any appeal.

The Source of this information is aph.com, there are also many other helpful tips for winter in their article

Traffic warden in trouble after ticketing wheelie bin

A traffic warden with a sense of humour is being investigated after issuing a wheelie bin with a parking ticket.

The traffic warden slap one of the dreaded yellow notices on a Biffa wheelie bin that had been left 'parked' on double yellow lines in Carmarthen in south west Wales.

Onlooker Mike Jones recounted the event to the BBC: "It was bizarre - I realised I had just watched a warden give a ticket to a wheelie bin for bad parking."

Carmarthenshire council acknowledged the whole thing was a joke, explaining there was no actual penalty charge notice inside the waterproof plastic packet, but said it would be investigating.

Counctil traffic and safety manager John McEvoy said in an interview with the BBC: "There was no ticket issued, it is not possible to book a wheelie bin or anything that is not motorised."

"Although this was meant as a humorous incident, we take this kind of thing very seriously and have launched a formal investigation into the conduct of this officer," he added.

It is unclear who was responsible for illegally parking the bin or who the parking attendant is.

 Source