Sydney woman fined $283 for breaking surprising road rule

A Sydney council has defended its decision to penalise a local woman for partially blocking a footpath while parking in her own driveway.

A woman who received a fine for parking in her own driveway – because the car partially obstructed a footpath – has taken to social media platform Facebook to query others about the little-known road rule.

The Bondi resident was fined $283 for parking in her own driveway – a little-known road rule in every Australian state.

RELATED: Is it illegal to park across your own driveway?

Authorities issue fines to cars that block or partially block a footpath because the obstruction could force pedestrians, families pushing prams, and people in a wheelchair onto the road or grass verge to go around the vehicle.

The woman shared a photo of the ticket she received as well as a photo of her black Audi parked in her driveway, which she says left part of the footpath clear for pedestrians.

“I park in my driveway, leaving ample room for a double pram, as my car doesn’t fit in the garage,” she wrote.

“I’ve never had a problem until this ticket today.”

The woman shared this photo of her car parked in her driveway to Facebook.

Regardless of where you live, parking in or across your own driveway is illegal for any period of time longer than two minutes – if the vehicle is unattended and blocking or partially blocking a footpath and/or other traffic.

According to New South Wales Road Rule 198, a driver is not permitted to stop on or across a driveway in NSW unless the driver is dropping off or picking up passengers, doesn’t leave the vehicle, and stops for no longer than two minutes.

There is no exemption to this rule for people parking on the street across their own driveway, though police and emergency vehicles are exempt from this rule.

If a motorist disobeys this road rule in New South Wales, the penalty is a $283 fine, which rises to $362 if the offence occurs in a school zone.

Waverley Council, which issued the fine, told Drive residents in the area were warned about a “harder stance” when enforcing parking restrictions.

“This type of parking across footpaths has always been an offence under the Australian road rules. Due to recent and ongoing complaints from residents and NSW Fire Brigade, council is now forced to ensure compliance,” a spokesperson for Waverley Council said in a media statement.

“With regards to enforcement, we have been communicating with residents about parking on footpaths causing ongoing obstructions. Council letterbox-dropped residents in this area before any action was taken. Council has acted consistently where obstruction of the footpath is occurring.”

The spokesperson added the council area is one of the most densely populated areas in Australia and on-street parking is “in high demand”.

Residents in the area who do not have access to off-street parking are entitled to a maximum of three permits at one time, with permit quotas determined based on the number of off-street parking spaces available and the number of cars registered to the address.

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