Parking Regulations
I’m going to make parking regulations simple! There are only three parts to this section:
Parking Regulations: Where You Can Park Your Motorcycle
Most on street parking is free, but with the new proposal to create a congestion charge for motorcyclists in London, increasingly complex parking regulations and greedier traffic wardens, it could become much more important in the future to know exactly where you can park your motorcycle and the relevant motorcycle parking regulations to ensure that your pockets are not robbed clean!
Parking Regulations Tips
- If you are parked reasonably (at the end of a bay, at a right angle, facing onto the street) then so to are the traffic wardens more likely to be reasonable
- Double check that free parking bays are not time limited
Metered Bays
More and more councils have started to introduce metered barking pays – with Westminster City Council setting this trend, followed by Leicester. This means that parking bays have been sub-divided, usually into meter sections to allow one motorcycle each.
Pay and Display
You pay for the time that you will be parking in the bay, and display your ticket. The major problem with this parking regulation however, is that displayed tickets on motorcycles can be stolen, or the adhesive backing on the ticket may be designed for a windscreen and not a bike.
So lucky for us, in not being able to solves these problems - many councils do not require payment for riders in their Pay and Display bays.
Parking Regulations Tips
- If you do have to pay however, write your bike model and registration number on the back of the ticket, to prevent anyone from stealing it
- Always carry change with you as most pay and display machines do not give change
- Some councils do allow bikes to park for free between the lines, as long as the bike does not obstruct a car
Shared Use of Bays
Occasionally motorcyclists are able to park in shared use of bays. Shared bays are always signposted, so double check what you need to do to park there legally as well as the days and hours that the parking regulations apply.
Controlled Parking Zones
A lot of local councils allow motorcycles in controlled parking zones or residents parking schemes. Signs should always indicate any parking regulations and these will be particular to each council area.
Car Parks
There are generally two types of car parks: council car parks and privately owned car parks, like those owned by National Car Park (NCP.)
Most areas do have council car parks, and these are usually the cheaper option. Council car parks do have parking regulations and you will either have to buy a ticket when you arrive and display it, or buy one when you leave.
Permitted Parking
You will find two types of permitted parking areas.
The first are those without lines or signs, and granted that they do not block an entrance such as somebody’s driveway, no parking regulations apply and you are free to park there any time.
The second is usually a parking bay, marked with a dashed white line around the parking area with any parking regulations noted on a sign nearby. It is not essential that you know what type of conditions you may park in these areas as they will always be stipulated on the sign, but for your interest only the following types of conditions apply to parking bays:
- They are free of charge
- They are free of charge for a short period, such as twenty minutes, with restrictions on returning to the bay within an hour or two
- They may be Pay and Display
- Only certain types of vehicles are allowed to park there such as busses or taxis
- It may be reserved for specific users such as residents or business
- If you park within the bay, follow the parking regulations and clearly display your ticket if necessary then permitted bays should provide no hassle at all.
Suspended Bays
Occasionally solo motorcycles are permitted to park here. If this is the case there will be a sign to indicate the parking regulations that apply.
Parking Regulations: Where Parking Your Bike is Restricted!
Foot Way / Pavement Parking
There is a catch with this one - outside the Greater London area if a footway is prohibited then there must be a sign saying that it is, however inside Greater London Motorcyclists are not allowed to park on footways – this includes any land adjacent to a building at all. The only instance in which you are able to park on a footway in Greater London is if signs indicate that you may.
The Westminster Enforcement protocol (March 2005) defines a footway as “any part of an urban road over which the public have right of access on foot and includes private land, crossovers and pavement lights etc unless a physical barrier prevents access (it does not include footpaths or private roads)
My advice is that (and of course its easy to give) but if you are in London and there is land adjacent to a building that the public can access on foot (ie it is not fenced in by some sort of barrier) and it does not have a sign indicating that you can park there – then don’t!
There has been a lot of debate on this particular parking regulation, and a few bikers have been able to make their case and get exemptions from being fined from parking on footways – however there are undoubtedly many more cases of those who have had to pay, whether in the wrong or because they did not have the energy to appeal, so why become a statistic?
NOTE: It is illegal to drive over a footway, so if you are in doubt as to whether a space is a footway – then just push your bike anyway!
Single Yellow Line Parking
By law, yellow lines must have a T-bar to show where they terminate or change from either a double to single line or visa versa. The only exceptions are if a yellow line meets a parking bay or a Zebra crossing. If the T-bar is missing, then the yellow line is not enforceable.
Single Yellow Lines indicate restricted parking regulations or no parking at all. If parking is not allowed at all, then there may not be a sign, only the yellow line to indicate this. If there are only parking restrictions at certain times, then these times will be displayed on a sign, usually found at the entry point to the controlled parking zone. Restricted times are common during peak hours, so you will generally find that you are able to park in these zones during the evening or on weekends.
You are allowed to load or unload heavy items for up to 20 minutes on a single yellow line if there is no sign stipulating otherwise.
On occasion, there are additional parking regulations in place such as the exemption of blue badge holders or for loading.
Yellow Lines in Controlled Parking Zones (CPZ)
If a single yellow line is in a CPZ it will follow the same rules as that controlled parking area, unless otherwise stated on a separate time plate located in the vehicle entry. For example if a controlled parking zone is shown to run during peak hours, then a yellow line without any separate time plates in that area will run for the same amount of time.
Double Yellow Lines
Double yellow lines indicate that parking at any time is prohibited and only on rare occasions is loading permitted. These is accepted as a general parking regulations and therefore signs no longer need to accompany double yellow lines to stipulate this.
Loading and Unloading
If a vehicle (commercial, non-commercial and motorbikes) is parked safely and is actively (i.e. there is obvious activity) loading or unloading heavy items then the vehicle is generally allowed to wait on a single yellow line as long as it moved to a permitted parking space straight afterwards.
In certain areas, such as the Westminster Borough in London, motorcycle couriers must be sign written to indicate that they are commercial vehicles.
If you are a working commercially on a motorcycle, take note of the following rules applying to loading and unloading:
Two yellow stripes (pips) on the curb indicate that there is no loading at any time.
A single yellow stripe (pip) on the curve will be accompanied by a sign showing times when loading is restricted- If there is a yellow line within a parking space (known as a loading gap) then you may treat as you would any other loading and
unloading areas, with all the same rules applying.
- At all times, no matter what circumstances you cannot load or unload your vehicle if your could cause an obstruction.
Bus Lanes
There are a few bus lanes in London that bikers can use, and when riding in a bus lane is permitted it will always be clearly marked on the road or on signs.
Red Route
On some routes (mostly in cities) double red lines will replace the double yellow line to indicate that not only is no parking allowed, but also no stopping – at all!
If there is a single red line, then stopping is only allowed during times indicated on a nearby plate. (These times are usually off-peak.)
NOTE: Some red routes actually have dedicated bays for bikes. These generally have times and overnight restrictions.
Cycle Lanes
Bikers can park or ride through the cycle lanes with broken white lines (or dashes.) If the white line is solid however, you are not permitted to do either.
Parking Regulations where Bikes are Not Permitted to Stop or Park in:
Disabled parking bays; zebra, pelican and toucan crossings; school zones; royal palaces or government sites.
NOTE: It is an offense to fail to display a VRN (vehicle excise duty) disc or obscure a vehicles registration number. It is also illegal to display a tax disc regardless of whether you have parked legally. Wardens are now permitted to remove anything covering your plate and disc and give you a ticket.
Still not sure? - Buy your own copy of the parking regulations!
Alternatively, you could always go to the Highway Code Online to brush up your Parking Regulations.