Rude riders squeezing between parked motorbikes

The lack of parking bays in most cities is causing some rude riders to squeeze their bike or scooter between parked bikes like in the photo above.

In areas where the individual bays are not marked with white paint, it is just rude. But in those delineated bays, the rider straddling the line could face a council fine and even a police fine.

We’ve checked around the streets of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and the biggest offenders seem to be riders on small bikes and cheap scooters.

They don’t mind if their machine gets a bit scratched. They also don’t seem to care if they scratch another rider’s expensive pride and joy.

Rude riders

Adelaide rider Duncan Haller, who sent us the above photo, says it’s not only rude and illegal, but makes it difficult for him to mount his Honda CBR500RR.

“Thanks to a slightly bung hip, without the room to swing my leg freely from the correct position I find it hard to get on the bike, and certainly painful when I can’t move my hip in the correct way,” he says.

“Add to that the number of times my mirrors are knocked out of position by parking-bay splitters.

“Here in Adelaide the council have in the past couple of years provided a number of new motorcycle and scooter parking places, including on Victoria Square, Hindmarsh Square and in a number of the side streets. 

“With a bit of searching, I’ve never had an issue even if I have to go a little further out than planned.

“Personally, I think it’s inconsiderate and bad manners.”

Duncan says he usually prefers designated parking bays, but says when he parks in the unmarked area on Victoria Square “99% of my fellow riders are considerate and leave room”.

“It seems to be the same minority of repeat offenders.”

Illegally parked bikes and scooters are never ticketed, he says.

“I’m not one to go reporting stuff to the Council, however I’m becoming tempted.”

But it may not be worth his effort.

An Adelaide City Council spokesman tells us the fine is only $50.

“However, we would usually issue a warning to scooters because sometimes people will move the small scooters out of the space so they can use the space themselves,” the council spokesman says.

Adelaide parking

Adelaide City Council acknowledges that motorcycles are a “space-saving, convenient and lower-cost alternative to private cars, and are well-suited to the city landscape”.

“They play an important role in supporting Adelaide’s liveability by reducing traffic congestion and travel time for all road users,” they say on their website.

Adelaide CBD and in North Adelaide have more than 1000 free on-street parking spaces with no time limit.

Riders can also park free in 140 spaces on eight designated footpaths.