Parking bays. No return within 1 hour.

[speedking31]

In a town, there is a street where on-street parking is allowed. The parking is in bays, with say 3-4 spaces per bay, then a gap to another bay, side street, another bay, etc. Each bay is accompanied by a standard sign "Parking limited to 1 hour. No return within 1 hour."

To what extent does the "No return" apply? If the space in front of yours was free after an hour, would pulling forward be sufficient to reset the clock? Does the return restriction apply to that bay, that street, the whole town centre?

Does anyone know. No I haven't got a ticket, but would like to avoid one for as long as possible.

[eatcustard]

It will be for all the bays, so dont move up a bay to reset the clock

[mcflurry]

The restriction is for each set of bays, otherwise there's nothing stopping you going from bay 1 to bay 2 (and back again) each hour..

[PurpleMoonlight]

I suspect 'knowing' will be an issue as I would bet it comes down to each councils policy.

A few years ago I used to park on street in Leicester city centre. I asked the wardens about this and they advised it applies to the specific market section, so I could happily move up a section without having to vacate the area for 1 hour.

[Alucidnation]

Easiest thing is to try it.

You will certainly know then.

[Mojooo]

The ones I have seen usually say no return to the same street - without that wording then arguably you can move to a different bay

Seems a bit of a schoolboy error not to specify that.

[Riley Blue]

Alucidnation said:

Easiest thing is to try it.

You will certainly know then.

Or phone your council and ask them to clarify their 'no return within an hour' policy.

[Mandalore]

Riley Blue said:

Alucidnation said:

Easiest thing is to try it.

You will certainly know then.

Or phone your council and ask them to clarify their 'no return within an hour' policy.

That is very sensible.

[Russian Troll Bot]

I once worked with someone who genuinely thought it meant you couldn't go back to your car within that timeframe, so stood around until the time passed

[speedking31]

Riley Blue said:

Alucidnation said:

Easiest thing is to try it.

You will certainly know then.

Or phone your council and ask them to clarify their 'no return within an hour' policy.

You're suggesting that there is no standard rule associated with this type of signage and that the implementation and enforcement might vary between towns or councils. I have contacted the relevant council, but am I supposed to do that before I park, whenever in a similar location, to check the local rules?

[softtop]

Russian Troll Bot said:

I once worked with someone who genuinely thought it meant you couldn't go back to your car within that timeframe, so stood around until the time passed

So did I but I was only five at the time

[EU_Foreigner]

For some parking signs you need a degree to actually understand what they mean.

[S11Steve]

I submitted a PATAS (now London Tribunals) appeal on behalf of a driver a while back on these grounds - I can't find the reply to get the exact wording, but the no return applies to the set of bays, not the individual bay.

The driver was working for the day in an office overlooking the 6 bays, and as a space came available, he moved his car between them, got a ticket, appealed as the driver to the council and it was rejected. He then drafted the PATAS appeal which we submitted as keeper, but that too was rejected.

If you look at the signs though, there is one at each end of the set of applicable bays with an arrow, like this one.

[Mr Pointy]

It looks like the arrow is pointing to the machine doesn't it? Are you saying the sign on the other end had th earrow pointing the other way to sort of indicate the sign applied between the two arrows?

[S11Steve]

Mr Pointy said:

It looks like the arrow is pointing to the machine doesn't it? Are you saying the sign on the other end had th earrow pointing the other way to sort of indicate the sign applied between the two arrows?

Correct, and in this particular set of bays, there is one machine in the middle, with a sign with arrows pointing both ways.

[cmaguire]

Mr Pointy said:

It looks like the arrow is pointing to the machine doesn't it? Are you saying the sign on the other end had th earrow pointing the other way to sort of indicate the sign applied between the two arrows?

That is exactly what it looks like, but that aside common sense would tell you it applies to the bays in the same street viewed as adjacent to each other (so if it was a longer street with a group of bays at either end then personally I would view them as separate entities but read the signs carefully).

[cmaguire]

Poor signage.
Why don't they put the arrow above the time?

[Johnnytheboy]

I was told some years back by a traffic warden that you were ok if you moved to a different set of bays, but not a different bay in the same row.

[So]

Having recently nearly fallen foul of this in Tunbridge Wells, I found out that groups of bays there have zones and you cannot return to another bay in the same zone.

[herewego]

Perhaps there is somewhere else more suitable for all day parking?