14 December 2012

On the roads, a traffic and parking omnibus part the first

| johnboy
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My email box overfloweth with readers contributions of bad parking and traffic behaviour. Let’s take a looksie.


1. A reader who wishes to stay anonymous gave us this:

Evening of the 13/12/12, one driver put on a special show at UC

UC Parking

2. Jon gave us this approach to a pedestrian crossing:

On one of the first nice days in October, Zouki decided to pick the worst parking spot he could find in Weston Park – in the ‘No Stopping’ right in front of the crossing. Pity the poor little children crossing the road who couldn’t see the oncoming traffic. He could have parked somewhere less dangerous – like the ‘No Parking’ zone right behind him.

zebra crossing

3. DeskMonkey had this classic of the form:

Only in Queanbeyan, from DeskMonkey

queanbeyan

4. Owen returned us to the vexed issue of disability parking:

I will join the crowd and herewith submit my contribution to the parking behavior of some Canberra drivers.

Third level, Belconnen Mall. No disabled permit on display

white falcon

5. Alison went there too:

Taken at coolie a few months back.

coolies

6. Stephen had this for us:

My wife snapped a photo of a lady mounting the medium strip in her 4WD this morning. What’s up with people in this town who think they can park anywhere, drive anywhere and in this case U Turn anywhere?

uturn

7. Dollie was deeply displeased by the RAMS car:

Thank you RAMS for selfishly double parking your car in an already overcrowded city car park!

Seen in the carpark opposite Mooseheads today.

opposite mooseheads

8. Ross was just happy to have a stereotype confirmed:

Parking Kingston style

With white commodore

white commodore

9. Tara was impressed with this effort:

At the Fyshwick Aust Post Business Center and yes the driver was a fully functioning tradesman.

Of note was the location of the trailer is just in front of three parallel kurbside parks….. all empty at the time

fyshwick fyshwick

10. To make it a perfect 10 I took this one in Braddon on Wednesday night.

braddon

Have you got an image of Canberra you want to share with the world? Email it in to images@the-riotact.com .

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Ben_Dover said :

Re Number 2.

In the UK ALL zebra crossings have road markings for a distance before and after them, parking on which leads to a heavy fine. Why the hell Canberra hasn’t adopted these is beyond me.

http://c1166782.myzen.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/zebra-crossing-01.jpg

http://www.amconsouthern.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/zebra-crossing-02.jpg

You can’t plead ignorance of road rules.
Even if the no stopping sign wasn’t there, the rules say no parking closer than 20m on the approach side of a crossing.

KeenGolfer said :

trevar said :

Re No. 6: Is making a U-Turn on a dividing strip prohibited? I usually refrain because it seems a little rebellious and I’m a good little trevar, but a brief search in the Australian Road Rules on the TAMS site didn’t yield any prohibition against the practice. Is it there somewhere?

It’s illegal to park or drive on a dividing strip at any time.

ARR 197 and 289/290.

Also. There is a sign that says no right turn at Barton highway. I don’t remember the part of the sign that says, no right turn, but just go up the road a bit and chuck a U turn across the medium. Hehe

Both Zouki and RAMS would, I’m sure, value feedback via their websites. Those of you on Twitter may like to check out @YPLAC and the associated blog for international examples of bad parking. It may also be an opportunity to spread the word about our local c***s.

KeenGolfer said :

It’s illegal to park or drive on a dividing strip at any time.

ARR 197 and 289/290.

Thanks Karen!

trevar said :

Re No. 6: Is making a U-Turn on a dividing strip prohibited? I usually refrain because it seems a little rebellious and I’m a good little trevar, but a brief search in the Australian Road Rules on the TAMS site didn’t yield any prohibition against the practice. Is it there somewhere?

It’s illegal to park or drive on a dividing strip at any time.

ARR 197 and 289/290.

tommo said :

I think all rioters should start carrying these:
http://tinyurl.com/cnorqrz

I will exhaust my supply just in the Westfield belco car park over the course of a Saturday morning.

tommo said :

I think all rioters should start carrying these:
http://tinyurl.com/cnorqrz

Curse you for introducing me to that site, where I will waste many an hour!

I think all rioters should start carrying these:
http://tinyurl.com/cnorqrz

UC bin bingler for the win! If you’re gonna mess up, you might as well do it properly. At least it’s memorable and will make a good story for the cops / towies kids to listen to when the old man arrives home from work

It looks to me like that bin is completely upside down, so it’s actually rolled twice (over 2 corners/sides/whatever). Nicely done.

devils_advocate said :

it seems the bumper would have hit it far too low, I can’t see how it would tip over

I think one of the concrete gutters may have played an assisting role in providing the leverage the driver was seeking. What puzzles me is that the damage to the car looks mainly to be in the middle of the boot, so he must have hit the bin on the corner. And the front wheels are turned, so he was trying some sort of a reverse parallel park perhaps? I can’t quite see how he did it, nor why he was goading the accelerator so insistently.

Now for 2c on the less-spectacular entries: The Mirage on the footpath and the Kaleen u-turner are the least of the offenders in my opinion. As for the rest of them, selfish pricks, may your christmas shopping trips bring you a merry hour of circling a congested carpark.

Re No. 6: Is making a U-Turn on a dividing strip prohibited? I usually refrain because it seems a little rebellious and I’m a good little trevar, but a brief search in the Australian Road Rules on the TAMS site didn’t yield any prohibition against the practice. Is it there somewhere?

Re Number 2.

In the UK ALL zebra crossings have road markings for a distance before and after them, parking on which leads to a heavy fine. Why the hell Canberra hasn’t adopted these is beyond me.

http://c1166782.myzen.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/zebra-crossing-01.jpg

http://www.amconsouthern.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/zebra-crossing-02.jpg

devils_advocate11:35 am 14 Dec 12

p1 said :

devils_advocate said :

And the first one – granted my knowledge of physics ends at what is taught in year 12, but how the hell did that occur?

The bin has rolled as the car has push back against it, and as it has rolled it has lifted the back of the car up on top. But the car would have had to keep applying power as it happened – fast enough before it hit and it would have just crashed into the bin, slow enough the roll it like that and the car wouldn’t have the momentum…. unless their foot was on the accelerator still….

The front wheels are still on the ground I think. Did they just drive it back down?

That was my first thought but it seems the bumper would have hit it far too low, I can’t see how it would tip over and also have enough of an edge under the bumper to lift up the car.

Put another way, i don’t reckon I could achieve that if I tried. Several times.

I think at this point I have something approaching admiration for this driver. Truly an outstanding achievement in the field of excellence.

devils_advocate said :

And the first one – granted my knowledge of physics ends at what is taught in year 12, but how the hell did that occur?

The bin has rolled as the car has push back against it, and as it has rolled it has lifted the back of the car up on top. But the car would have had to keep applying power as it happened – fast enough before it hit and it would have just crashed into the bin, slow enough the roll it like that and the car wouldn’t have the momentum…. unless their foot was on the accelerator still….

The front wheels are still on the ground I think. Did they just drive it back down?

Number 6 will be chuffed she now has more off-road experience than most black SUV drivers.

Number 1 deserves a clap.

CrocodileGandhi11:11 am 14 Dec 12

I was lucky enough to see the first incident on my way to futsal last night. The best part was the look of pure shock on the face of the police officer who arrived at the scene.

devils_advocate10:53 am 14 Dec 12

I think the fourth one is made all the more poignant by the fact that there is an older gentleman in what appears to be a personal mobility vehicle, looking on in some combination of bemusement/resignation.

And the first one – granted my knowledge of physics ends at what is taught in year 12, but how the hell did that occur?

Holden Caulfield10:53 am 14 Dec 12

thy_dungeonman said :

Wow, not only is the guy with the trailer taking a disabled spot he is also blocking the disabled ramp, he must really hate disabled people.

Assuming the accuracy of the offender’s profession, then:

http://the-riotact.com/the-act-building-industry-how-do-we-seek-redress/90237#comment-449171

thy_dungeonman10:31 am 14 Dec 12

Wow, not only is the guy with the trailer taking a disabled spot he is also blocking the disabled ramp, he must really hate disabled people.

I hope this trend keeps up of the holiday season. RA tends to be a little quiet while us public servants aren’t at work to whinge about things, but at least we can laugh at the funny idiots.

On the subject of the RAMS car. Do the parking inspectors give them a ticket for that? I hope so, unless they have two valid pay and display vouchers on the dash….

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