Learner drivers and parking against the flow of traffic

[Cheekster247]

Moved house in the last 12 months and on the roads around my new place, there are always tons of learner drivers and instructors. One thing I've noticed is the instructors are clearly teaching/telling the learners to park up on the opposite side of the road facing into oncoming traffic.

Just this morning, darkish so most cars either have sidelights or even headlights on but I came across two learners parked on my side of the road facing me.

Have things changed since I had lessons {admittedly 25+ years ago}? A quick Google indicates its not illegal, but definitely not advisable so why teach new drivers to do this?

[Granadier]

Cheekster247 said:

Moved house in the last 12 months and on the roads around my new place, there are always tons of learner drivers and instructors. One thing I've noticed is the instructors are clearly teaching/telling the learners to park up on the opposite side of the road facing into oncoming traffic.

Just this morning, darkish so most cars either have sidelights or even headlights on but I came across two learners parked on my side of the road facing me.

Have things changed since I had lessons {admittedly 25+ years ago}? A quick Google indicates its not illegal, but definitely not advisable so why teach new drivers to do this?

The back streets near my house are another area favoured by driving instructors, and I've noticed the same - parking on the right side of the road.

[vikingaero]

There are varying standards of driving instructors from the pish poor to the decent. There used to be gradings of Gold, Silver, Bronze, but I think that has been replaced. Seems to me to be standards are skewed towards pish poor given many observations I've had:

- a propensity to teach pupils to go straight ahead at a roundabout from L2 (assuming no other markings)
- teaching people turning right into a side road to block the whole road rather than use the central hatched area and allow cars to pass.
- flooding certain roads with 10 of them at a time all doing 3 point turns - there's a private office estate near me that has signs banning learners because all the driving schools went there at the same time to do parking and turns and disrupting office workers and lorries from leaving.

[Kevin-2g5x2]

its still an offence to park on the offside facing traffic without lights during the hours of darkness, so bad practice.

[Pica-Pica]

Kevin-2g5x2 said:

its still an offence to park on the offside facing traffic without lights during the hours of darkness, so bad practice.

I think you meant to write 'without street lights'.

[v8notbrave]

It's part of the test, the logic stumped me when my son said. It's to teach awareness, caution I think, They have to reverse a set distance

(In Florida I received a parking ticket for taking an opportune parking space against the flow of traffic, so no consistency!)

[Super Sonic]

v8notbrave said:

It's part of the test, the logic stumped me when my son said. It's to teach awareness, caution I think, They have to reverse a set distance

(In Florida I received a parking ticket for taking an opportune parking space against the flow of traffic, so no consistency!)

You have to reverse a certain distance when parallel parking whichever side of the road you park, whether it's with the direction of traffic or against.
When you say you got a ticket in Florida so no consistency, isn't that USA? Are you saying that's not consistent with UK? (According to your profile you aren't in USA so unclear)

[littleredrooster]

We get this exact thing happening around our area, too. Last month, I had to pull up alongside a driving-school car (parked against the traffic) and ask him to turn his main beam off!

[fourthpedal]

v8notbrave said:

It's part of the test, the logic stumped me when my son said. It's to teach awareness, caution I think, They have to reverse a set distance

(In Florida I received a parking ticket for taking an opportune parking space against the flow of traffic, so no consistency!)

In Germany and Switzerland it's illegal except on low-traffic roads. The UK might be the exception here.

[Dixy]

The test can include driving forwards parallel to the kerb on the offside to park, then reverse a set distance and then drive forwards onto the correct side of the road and continue on.
It is what civil servants think a competent driver should be able to demonstrate.
The test can also include forward parking in a supermarket style parking space and reversing out.

[tigger1]

v8notbrave said:

It's part of the test, the logic stumped me when my son said. It's to teach awareness, caution I think, They have to reverse a set distance

Aye - It's been part of the test for nearly 10 years

https://www.wearemarmalade.co.uk/driver-hub/learne...

[Cheekster247]

Seems bizarre to me but thanks for confirming all. It still annoys me like hell but I'll try to be more tolerant in the future

[wibble cb]

I seem to remember years ago that if you had parked a VW against the flow of traffic you could flip the indicator the relaxant way and even with the ignition switched off, front and rear side lights would be on, or did I make it up?

[irc]

tigger1 said:

Aye - It's been part of the test for nearly 10 years

https://www.wearemarmalade.co.uk/driver-hub/learne...

"you may need to pull up on the right-hand side of the road at some point. Whether it’s popping into the shop"


No you lazy fker. Park on the left and cross the road.

[Pica-Pica]

It's very common to need to park on the right hand side of a one way street.babdifferent technique (and spacial awareness) is needed. The test has regularly been adjusted to meet the changing needs of vehicle, traffic and road architecture.

[cuprabob]

wibble cb said:

I seem to remember years ago that if you had parked a VW against the flow of traffic you could flip the indicator the relaxant way and even with the ignition switched off, front and rear side lights would be on, or did I make it up?

No that's true, if you switched off the ignition and flipped the indicator stalk the corresponding front and rear parking light came on.

[Cleminem]

Yes, I had it on my test in 2019. Pull up on the right, reverse back 3 car lengths, pull away again.

I thought at the time it was thoroughly pointless, then I went to university where all the student housing is clustered into one area of the town, parking was an absolute free-for-all, so being able to safely pull up on the right side of the road turned out to be one of the most useful skills, as otherwise you would be driving around endlessly looking for a space.

[sixor8]

wibble cb said:

I seem to remember years ago that if you had parked a VW against the flow of traffic you could flip the indicator the relaxant way and even with the ignition switched off, front and rear side lights would be on, or did I make it up?

I've had Vauxhalls that had that function.

[Pica-Pica]

sixor8 said:

wibble cb said:

I seem to remember years ago that if you had parked a VW against the flow of traffic you could flip the indicator the relaxant way and even with the ignition switched off, front and rear side lights would be on, or did I make it up?

I've had Vauxhalls that had that function.

Many vehicles have/had that function. Often it was unintuitive and people would leave the kerbside parking light on. My F30 has this function, but rarely do I need to park with parking lights on.

Edited by Pica-Pica on Wednesday 7th October 14:24

[DFNorfolk]

Can t answer as to why all the instructors in the OP s post are parking on the right but it is indeed on the list of possible manoeuvres on a test which are:

Pull up on the right behind another vehicle and reverse two car lengths
Forward park
Reverse park
Parallel park, within two car lengths of the vehicle you’re parking behind
Pull up on the left and move away safely, 6-8 times during the test

All of these manoeuvres, and the test itself, are to see how effective the person is at making observations to ensure theirs and others safety once out on the road by themselves. If they don t make effective observations each and every time, and throughout the test, they won t pass.

Maybe try it for yourselves

Edited by DFNorfolk on Wednesday 7th October 14:37