Motorist fined $900 for breaking little-known parking rule

A Sydney motorist is furious after they racked up almost $1000 in fines after falling foul of a parking rule for which there was no signage.

A Sydney woman has said she copped $900 in fines for flouting a parking rule that few people knew existed and there was no mention of on the street.

The woman, who parked in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, received three $238 fines for “parallel parking close to diving line/strip”.

The notice said she had parked within three metres of the double white line down the middle of the road, reported Daily Mail Australia.

She claimed that the first two fines were sent to the Service NSW app on the phone of the vehicle’s owner so she had no idea she had even done the wrong thing.

It was only when she received a paper notice of the third fine via the post that she became aware of her transgressions.

The car was parked too close to the white dividing lines. Picture: Facebook.

“There’s no road or street signage, no yellow lines, no indication of any kind that you can’t park here … but it’s not allowed” she said on the Bondi Local Loop Facebook page.

“So now I have nearly $900 worth of fines for this,” she said, explaining that late charges had been tacked onto the earlier fines.

“I hope this helps others not get caught out.”

Some on the community Facebook page had sympathy for the motorist pointing out that many Sydney streets are so narrow there would no way to park and leave three meters between the car and dividing line.

However, on the parking rules section of the NSW Government website it does say “You must not park within three metres of any double dividing lines”.

The measure is to ensure roads aren’t blocked to traffic.

In some cases, however, having signage by the side of the road doesn’t make things any clearer.

Last month, a parking sign seen in North Sydney went viral when it seemed to offer perplexing advice.

It displayed a no parking sign but added “motor vehicles excepted”. So, people asked, who couldn’t actually park in the spot?

A Reddit user shared a confusing parking sign in North Sydney. Picture: Reddit

It emerged that the sign meant trailers and caravans couldn’t park, however drivers complained that it wasn’t clear enough.

One driver who was able to work out the meaning of the sign asked: “So why don‘t they just write “don’t park your trailers here” instead of this f***ing cryptogram?”

But another motorist replied: “They could’ve worded it just as simple as that couldn’t they?”

North Sydney Council’s website confirmed that large vessels such as trailers weren’t allowed to be parked on the street.

“If a trailer is hitched to a motor vehicle, the combination is considered a motor vehicle and would therefore be exempt from the restrictions,” it added.