Hi everyone, I have been given a fine for blocking a driveway which I think is marginal and is unfair.
Background:
The station is in North West where public transport is an issue and the closest station has parking issues.
I don't think I was blocking the drive way and had reasonable access.
Any views/comments is appreciated!
Ouch.
A cheap lesson if it doesn't come with demerit points.
fark that's huge. ridiculous. I got stun $168 for picking in a zone that was only for that hour intended for a bus (sign had 8 panels of conditions) but $268 is huge.
don't park like that in driveways as some people have large cars and can get into an accident backing out as there is reduced visibility with your car so close.
you gotta pay the fine, despite it being an enormous amount.
naise
You should contest it and show the court this thread as collateral. That'll show em.
Sorry mate. I'm usually against bs fines, but in this case you really have parked too far back. If the owner of that driveway tried to get in or out, it would be very difficult.
A tip when parking is to have the very edge of the car no further than the corner of the grass naturestrip. As you can see from those pics, you are way over that line. Half a meter at least.
$268 is really steep though.
Those lines are there to enforce correct distance for safety/visibility for the driveway user.
Even in my residential area there appears to have been a parking dispute between neighbours that has resulted in those 'parking blocks' now painted between their two driveways.
The new neighbour had tried to squeeze 3 cars (bumper-to-bumper) in the space between their driveways but the other neighbour must have complained and now those lines are there for this type of enforcement action, if required.
"But I have to get to work"… well, the fine is the risk you take in disregarding road rules to make your commute.
3 cars! Sheesh… did they have another 3 in their driveway?!
They filled the driveway with their boat. Now they've managed to squeeze in one car next to the boat, leaving the other two cars on the road.
Lol. They had probably banked on being able to park 3 in a row when they checked the house out before buying. "Look Dad! The boat can sit in the driveway and we've got enough space for all the cars on the road!! Woohoo!"
I thought some councils had an actual distance, like 1 or 1.5m between the driveway and the car which seems to be consistent with where the line is painted. Your car definitely seems to well violate that nominal ~1m clearance.
PS. While you are at it, get your numberplate replaced before you get fined by the cops for having a hard to read numberplate. (Yes it has happened to me)
Pay the fine, if it were my driveway I would have given your car some new marks.
nah u wouldnt
you don't know how "tough" mreddie is.
Well and truely blocking the drive. The car reversing out needs swing room if the street is narrow.
That's an ozbargainer's car if ever I've seen one.
From the state of your rear bumper this may not have been the first driveway you've blocked! haha
If there was no line then I would say it's a bit rough to get fined for this - but there was a bloody line right there! lol
Nothing beats $430 fines for not leaving 10m (more than 2 cars length) on intersection with no traffic light, in a really quiet suburb…..
$440 and 2 points in a school zone. Mrs did that… saving grace was the date on the pic didn’t match the fine.
ugh so lucky. Wonder if there is another way to get out of it. Legit I thought the pole was a no stopping pole so I parked there. The intersections around there all have no-stopping pole. Turns out it was a street name pole. Bugger.
I wish more people were fined like you. People like you are very annoying.
…Simple.
I live in an apartment building with a reasonably wide driveway (as specified by council and the RTA due to the size of the building and being on a major road, requires space for cars to pull in and cars to pull out simultaneously without affecting the flow of traffic. My building is approx 100m from a particular religious building which results in every parking spot in the area being filled up a couple of nights a week.
Very regularly people decide theres no parking spaces for them, so they will either park partially over our driveway (a full car length past a "no stopping" sign), or because its double car width, simply park on our driveway. I'm at the end of my tether (makes it very hard to enter/exit our driveway), and i'm at the point where i'm going to start calling the ranger to fine these people. Seeing you be fined gives me hope that we can make a difference in my street.
Just ring the ranger, or relevant authority, and see if you can get fines issued. It is the only way that people will stop doing it. Perhaps get the driveway painted with a big “no parking” sign to reinforce the idea.
Driveway painted seems a good idea.. :)
…. but what if they are praying for no fines in the religious building ? What if their God is almighty and makes no rangers turn up ?
Here's the biggest question, what if, one of them figures out you are the one and blows himself up in your house ?
Could not agree more. Wish the fine was double
Lol, this area looks familiar. Is this Quakers Hill?
In response to your question, in my humble opinion, you are in the wrong here mate. Just pay the fine, learn from your mistake and move on.
Pay the fine - you deserve it.
This happens a lot with my driveway in the evening which is quite annoying and it’s difficult to get council involved at that time. I wish we could just take photos and send it to the council to issue fines rather than try to get them to come out.
There's an app for that. Send snap solve. i think its a government app to report things.
Not government app, they actually charge local councils etc to receive reports through it. They recently got fined by the ACCC for implying that you can report things and the authority will receive it when they actually withheld it until the authority got a subscription.
I've gotten my council to send out someone at 8pm before when the neighbour's guest parked their bomb literally across a metre of my driveway (I have a double driveway, but they parked across the side that I actually garage in, and even then that's not the point). They showed up in like 15 minutes.
I don't want to flame you, but if you know anything about OZB there is no sympathy for those that don't know their road rules. You were asking for the straight responses. Hope you learn from your error. Pay the fine and move on.
You sir, are the greatest hero in American history…
I'm ready to get neg'd but I call the council if (profanity) block my driveway. They're usually fined within 30 minutes.
DO NOT BLOCK DRIVEWAYS!
Haha
Agree with others. Your blocking part of the drive way. If there’s a fire at the house or an ambulance needs to pull in the trucks are in a hurry and can’t be worried about clipping people who have parked over the line so that’s why it’s taken so seriously even thought you are only just over. Speaking from someone who lives in a house where people do this, it’s also a total pain to get in and out when this is done.
I have had people completely park right in front of my drive way and block all access, i have called the cops multiple times but nothing was ever done. Sometimes it was at night and they didnt realise apparently, other times it was broad daylight and they parked there to have a shorter walk to drop their kids at school and in the process their car broke down and i couldnt get to work for more than an hour till eventually they allowed me and my neighbour to push the car away from the driveway. Initially they just wanted to have the car wait there till their help arrives.
Nothing will be done about that if you call the police because it's not a police matter - you call the local council.
Dam, just found another most loved post of 2019 contender…. what a Wed!
Think nothing worse than people blocking driveways. Might be marginal but you also need to think of residents. You are blocking their view to see traffic, have enough time to stop and leave the road to enter their driveway and dodge your car, and this is especially the case for houses with small driveways. No love from me. Sorry.
@kizashi
Think nothing worse than people blocking driveways.
Nothing?
Just off the top of my head I can think of…. genocide, child molesting, environmental destruction…
On the scale of egregious human behaviour, parking across a driveway rates fairly low down the list.
Woah! Too dark and too fast. Its supposed to be Christmas season. Have a laugh and lay back.
PS: I didnt neg since dont have neg privilege here yet.
That looks like my friend's white camry. He also can't park. lol
http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_reg/rr2014104…
http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_reg/rr2014104…
It seems. Bay line is only in effect when there’s a special sign or mention on the parking sign. Otherwise it can be old or something… As for driveway itself I don’t think you blocked it, but there’s a rule I read somewhere that specifies that ANY part of vehicle shouldn’t be within the boundaries of driveway. So technically you breached it. I would take it to court as excessive and unreasonable. Just get pix from council to make sure yours match with theirs. Plead not guilty stating that reasonable person wouldn’t consider it blocked. Usually judges are so pissed off with marginal approach to council fines that they just cancel fines. Also your good/bad driving/criminal history will play the role either way. If good then bring records with you. If you see the magistrate leaning to penalize you , can change plea to guilty at any time before verdict but that’s already not THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY where leniency may apply. All you’ve got to loose is your court fee $80 if fine. stands. DISCLAIMER This is not legal advice
Plead not guilty stating that reasonable person wouldn’t consider it blocked.
Have you read the comments in this post? If so, there must be a lot of unreasonable people according to you …
How much is the fine? Hopefully it's enough to teach you a lesson, you're well and truly restricting someone from safely accessing their driveway. Better still, you have the hide to come and ask borderline a troll post…GG.
It's illegal to park over someone's driveway even the owners of the house can't do it. I looked in to these rules a while ago when it started happening around my driveway.
You're in the wrong. Pay the fine butter cup and learn the rules of the road. Although your car already looks like it's gone through the ringer so perhaps hand in your license and don't endanger other people.
Lol i have seen some cracker posts. This one takes the cookie.
Yeah no worries mate. I hope your driveway is marginally blocked. Then when you can't get out you can stay at home and wash old mates car cause he was probably running late. Grow a brain moron
Even without the white giveaway lines you can see the rear is clearly into the driveway out, which doesn't look like a particularly wide angle mouthed one, nor does the street look particularly wide.
I've been trapped at my place before (luckily I didn't actually need to go anywhere that time) where on our narrow street, people had parked either side of my driveway and cars were parked on the other side. Impossible to drive/turn out. And that's with nothing actually wrong occurring (no obvious incursions)
I don't think blocking someone's driveway is fair. You think it is.
You're free to hold your opinion. We're free to criticize.
The parking inspectors are duty bound to uphold the law.
The state of your car or your perceived hardship is irrelevant.
(Not at all having a go at you. Simply stating facts.)
I am not defending my action
But you did that in your OP when you said “ I have been given a fine for blocking a driveway which I think is marginal and is unfair”
Isn't that an opinion I could have? And merely a reasoning made it change now? Like the examples of emergency vehicle makes more sense to me now.
Some of responses have been pretty harsh. But your assertion that it was only marginally blocked has fired up a lot of people's emotions probably because those people have been blocked in their driveway at sometime or other. Evidently you have never been blocked in your driveway. Even if it's only 1cm. This one cm could be the determining factor to someone getting out.
It's not just getting out. It's visibility its ability to turn left or right entering or leaving driveway. If another car is parked opposite driveway there is no turning room. If the person can't get out they are stuck there for 10 hours while you are at work. For example my driveway was blocked and I was picking my elderly father up at a train station. He didn't know where I was not how to use his mobile phone. I had to use a taxi both ways for $100.
Thanks mate! I have learnt from my mistake and would never do it.. Well when I looked, I felt it was marginal. But I can see that cms matter!
Re-read some of the replies. Your entire vehicle is meant to be within the markings, not just the wheels. That's why people aren't giving you slack and that's why the ticket guy didn't give you slack. Often they won't ticket people technically outside the law (whole vehicle inside the lines) if they're close enough. You are not close in the slightest.
You aren't cm's away, not close at all, you are a good metre or more outside the lines. It is whole car not tyres that need to be within lines.
Surely that spot could've fit your car? You really could've done better there.
Imagine from the owners point of view (when leaving their property)… At least it's a fine, not a whole panel being keyed.
Im pretty sure keying this car would raise its value
You are clearly over the marking. People block our work access like this and it is impossible to leave driveway without crossing over to the wrong side of the street.
I agree mate! When I parked, I looked from the kerb(yes it's a mistake), and didn't even realize then that it was over the white line.
For OP
https://www.specsavers.com.au/
That is, if you truely believe that's "marginally" over the line.
Maybe he shouldn't even be driving if he believes that's "marginally" over the line.
NSW rules state that you can't park on or across a driveway. There is no reference to 'reasonable access'. You can get booked even if it's just the 'tow ball' inside the drive way.
Furtermore, your whole car needs to be within white lines.
For these reasons you received the fine.
From personal experience, I hate when people do this, especially larger vehicles like SUVs. It makes it that much harder to safely exit the driveway.
I would like to see the rule changed so that there is at least a 1m distance from the driveway.
the closest station has parking issues
So you'll fit right in then
OP, it appears you can’t park within lines…
Should've gone to Specsavers OP…
Good thing OP is insured:
The CTP insurance period end date is: 26/10/2020
Insurer's name: QBE
Insurer's code: 36
Old car:
2001 White Toyota Camry XV20 Sedan.
That'll only cover if he hits someone. It won't pay out for the six hundred forty two objects he's hit.
Good, you deserve it. Marginal or not it's completely inconsiderate to block someone's driveway.
I am dealing with people like you every day where I live.
I had a woman the other day who completely blocked my driveway because she was working (doing lawn maintenance) on the house next door, when I asked her to move her car and not to park there again her response was that I could just ask her to move her car if I needed to leave the house as it was a big hassle for her to park further away.
I told her that I shouldnt have to, she should block the driveway of her client and that her laziness shouldn't impact my right to come and go from my property as I please.
She laughed it off, moved her car but said she did it all the time and it wasn't an issue. Next time I'll just call the council. If someone asks I don't usually have a problem but don't just assume.
If you had to deal with people like that every day you would understand why it is so annoying and why people are being so harsh towards you.
Clearly blocked the entrance of driveway. If you’re not fined, it would be unfair to house owner and anyone parking correctly.
Ozbargain Jury agree with the blocking of the drive way and find the member guilty !
Lol why oh why would anyone ask this an expect anything other than the obvious from the self righteous crowd. And in this case it's not even a marginal call.
If I were the homeowner I may let a half respectable car go but 100% report a shitbox like yours
Seems Unfair
Overseas license?
Name should explain
Fair dinkum.
I missed the old post it notes all over the car.
A cultural learning experience.
Meanwhile in europe, mayor looking to bulldoze traffic offenders cars….with a tank.
I'm pretty sure you have to leave 1 metre between the back of your vehicle and the driveway. In any case there's plenty of room in front of your car and the one in front of you yet you chose to park like a complete dick. Many people wouldn't have called someone to fine you they would've just keyed your car so you should consider yourself lucky. Hopefully you learnt a lesson.
In some states like SA (1.8m I think) but not NSW.
You sure about that? ARR 198 ;)
I am not sure, that's why I said I think :p
I think it would be good if such a rule existed. Makes exiting life easier.
Once my driveway was completely blocked, police said car belonged to one of my neighbours but there was nothing they could do, and advised me not to confront the owner. Didn't know they could get fined.
I'm surprised the cops didn't fine the car. I used to work at Woolworths and we called the cops once because some idiot parked in the laneway where we received our deliveries so truck couldn't get in. The cops actually came and said while they couldn't have the car towed (what we actually wanted) they gave them a fine which was like $100 at the time (about 10 years ago).
If you parked like that in front of my drive I would have called the council on you.
I'm perplexed why you thought you were in any way shape or form in the right. I bet you'd park within 10m from an intersection too.
My Mrs learnt the hard way also for slightly passing a no parking sign near an intersection. Suck it up and pay the fine
Seems like every cat and dog these days feel like they were unfairly penalised/fined.
How can you even think the fine is unfair?
How is the resident of that house supposed to pull out or pull into the driveway if you block the driveway like that?
They need extra room to swing around. you don't just pull in/pull out of the driveway in a straight line.
Please think before you do stupid things and inconvenience others.
Well deserved fine.
Imagine you parked like that and then another person did the same as you on the other side. It'd be really really difficult borderline impossible to reverse out if there were cars directly opposite the drive way.
It's harsh, however you're still in the wrong (being outside the lines).
Having someone park across your driveway is the worst. I have no sympathy. Fine should of been bigger.
If OP can't park properly, don't drive. OP has no ground to stand on if take it to court. Pay the fine and move on!
Crazy how you can tell the nationality of someone by the model of the car and how terrible they are at parking.
Haha, his username also checks out
I don't get it?
And the condition of the car as well…
Pay the fine, you're 1m over the line.
$268