Smart Car parking

flyingscotno1 · 30 September 2009 at 3:15PM

When the Smart initially came out in LHD, a few magazines stated that it wasn't permitted to leave them parked side on unless the bays were marked like that- you had to park parallel to the kerb due to lighting and reflector restrictions. I don't know how much you trust car magazine journos getting it right however!

immoral_angeluk · 30 September 2009 at 5:22PM

Parking in a small gap like that would surely make it harder for the other drivers to get out of their proper spaces?

GabbaGabbaHey · 30 September 2009 at 8:44PM

Rockporkchop wrote: »

there is a small space always available just outside the station and I was hoping it had my name on it!

At Winchester train station, there are 2 or three small parking spaces which are reserved for Smart cars. They even have little drawings of Smart cars beside them.

Why not have a word with whichever council is responsible for enforcing parking regulations outside your station and get their advice?

csh_2 · 30 September 2009 at 9:55PM

Hi, I used to own a Smart and did get quite creative with parking! However I understood it that you cannot park a Smart front end on, on street parking (like in the picture) as it causes a hazard trying to reverse out into traffic with zero visibilty.
Also if you park it a*se to the pavement, any Traffic warden, police ect cannot read the tax disc from the pavement and would have to stand in traffic in order to check disc and this was illegal.
LOL have absolutly no idea if this is true or not, but didn't ever risk it!

DaveF327 · 30 September 2009 at 10:33PM

There is no legal requirement to park in any particular orientation providing you are parked wholly within a marked bay and at least some part of the car is within 50cm of the kerb edge (in a special enforcement area). The question of overhang is purely down to your assessment of the risk; would you be happy to accept that a passing driver with questionable spatial awareness may clip the projecting part of your car even if it's within any markings?

However, if you are not parked within a designated (i.e. marked or set aside from the carriageway) parking space, you must beware of the regulations regarding being parked at night. You must display parking lights* and reflectors, so parking sideways would mean these are not displayed. You must not park against the direction of the traffic flow, so it's open to interpretation whether sideways is truly "against". Only a court can decide this.

*except in prescribed circumstances irrelevant to this thread

Smart Car parking

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