WAITING & PARKING LAWS: Understanding where you can and cannot park your vehicle is vital to avoid penalties and heavy fines.

Traffic and parking rules dictate how long you can wait in a restricted zone or whether you can legally stop your car to pick up passengers.

---

You Must Not Wait or Park (RTRA Law 5 & 8)

• On yellow lines during operation times (shown on time plates nearby).
• On yellow lines in a Controlled Parking Zone during operation times.
• On double yellow lines even if no upright signs are visible.

---

You Must Not Wait, Park, or Stop

• To set down your vehicle and pick up passengers at school entrances (i.e. prohibition of stopping)

Rule 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). See the road traffic signs section for more information. 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 when upright signs indicate a prohibition of stopping. See the road markings section for more information.

---

What if Someone Parks in Front of Your House?

What does the law say if there is someone blocking your driveway and you cannot get out? Living in a street does not grant you automatic legal entitlement to park outside your own home. In this case the law does not ban other drivers from parking outside your home per se.

Parking is a premium in towns and built up areas. What if people block your driveway in these busy locations? From a technical standpoint they are not breaking any parking laws.

The police confirm that it is not anyone’s legal right to park in front of their own house. The exception would be when there is a designated parking space operating in that place.

Private roads, and those ruled by residential parking permits, have different parking regulations. As a rule in other cases, members of the public are not breaking the law. That said, they must follow the general restrictions for parking a vehicle. Parked cars must cause an obstruction to other vehicles travelling on the roads.

---

Highway Code Rule 243: Do Not Stop or Park

• Near to a school entrance.
• Anywhere that you would prevent normal access for the Emergency Services.
• At or near a bus stop, tram stop signage, or a taxi rank.
• On the approach to a level crossing or tramway crossing.
• Opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction (except in an authorised parking space).
• Near to the brow of a hill or a hump bridge.
• Opposite a traffic island or another parked vehicle (if it would cause an obstruction).
• Where you would force other traffic to enter a tram lane.
• Where the kerb got lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles.
• In front of an entrance to a property.
• On a bend.
• Where you would obstruct cycle facilities used by cyclists (except when forced to do so by stationary traffic).

---

---