Parking signs, restrictions and road rules

It is your responsibility as the driver of a vehicle to read all road and kerbside signage that you may encounter and to comply with the directions or requirements indicated by the signs and or road markings.

All road and kerbside signage and road markings within the City of Unley comply with Australian Standards as prescribed in the Australian Road Rules.

If you do not understand the information provided on the signs or by the road markings, then you should seek another area in which to park.

Infringements may not be cancelled if you did not read, understand or you misinterpreted the information on the signs or the road markings.

Under section 237 of the Local Government Act 1999 an authorised person may have a vehicle removed to an appropriate place if the vehicle is believed to have been abandoned, or the vehicle has been left on a public road or place or on local government land unlawfully for at least 24 hours following the issue of a warning notice.  

 Vehicles will only be impounded as a last resort after all avenues to locate the owner and have them remove the vehicle have been exhausted.

If you have left your vehicle parked illegally and the City of Unley or police believe it is a danger to other road users and is likely to cause traffic congestion or obstruct access to a property, they can arrange for the vehicle to be towed. Vehicles cannot be towed away simply because they are causing an inconvenience to other road users.

If you wish to report a vehicle that may have been abandoned or if you believe your vehicle has been removed, please contact the City of Unley on (08) 8372 5111.

Once a vehicle has been reported for an offence and remains parked for a further period, a 'Further Offence' Notice can be issued.

If the area is subject to a time limit of less than one hour, for each period that the vehicle remains, a 'Further Offence' Notice may be issued. For example, in a 15 minute parking zone, further offences can be issued every 15 minutes after the initial Infringement Notice.

For all other parking infringements, a Further Offence Notice may be issued for each hour that the vehicle remains parked after the initial Infringement Notice.

To apply for a disabled parking permit, visit the South Australian Government website and download an application form. Fees are payable at the time of lodging your application.

A Disabled Parking Permit must be displayed at all times when parked in a Disable Permit Zone. If your vehicle is clearly displaying a Disability Parking Permit, you also have the option of parking in a standard time-limited parking space. You will then be entitled to additional time to the marked sign as follows:

• If the signed time limit is less than 30 minutes, the time limit for a Disability Parking Permit holder will be 30 minutes.

• If the signed time limit is between 30 minutes and one hour, the time limit for a Disability Parking Permit holder will be two hours.

• Disability Parking Permit holders who park in a paid parking ticket area are still required to purchase a parking ticket and will be provided with double the time indicated on the ticket.

• If the signed time limit is more than one hour, the time limit for a Disability Parking Permit holder will be twice the period indicated on the sign.

• If your vehicle is clearly displaying a Disability Parking Permit, within a private parking area, you will then be entitled to 90 additional minutes to the marked time-limited area signage.

A total prohibition on parking applies in these areas as these restrictions are imposed for road and pedestrian safety reasons and to maintain access. A continuous yellow edge line is a road marking which runs parallel to the kerb.

You are not permitted to stop or park in these zones at any time, regardless of the reason. Even if you are only stopping to let someone out of the car and regardless of whether you leave the engine running and stay in the car.

You must not stop in a 'No Parking' area unless dropping off or picking up passengers or goods. You must not leave the car or take longer than two minutes. 

Parking your vehicle too close to an intersection can endanger pedestrians and other drivers by blocking their view of the traffic and by restricting the turning space of other drivers.

A driver must not stop on a road within 20 metres of the nearest point of an intersecting road at an intersection with traffic lights.

A driver must not stop on a road within 10 metres from the nearest point of an intersecting road at an intersection without traffic lights. 

All vehicles must be parked parallel to the kerb unless the signs and or road markings indicate angle parking is required.

All parallel parked vehicles must face the same direction as the moving traffic on that side of the road. This is called 'the lawful direction'.

To ensure a clear passage for moving traffic, parallel parked vehicles (other than motor cycles) must have both kerbside wheels as close as practicable to the kerb. 

You must not stop across your own or another person's driveway, or so close to the driveway that you stop a vehicle from driving in or out.

Vehicles must not be parked with any part of the vehicle on a footpath or footway, including the grass verge outside your home. Apart from the obstruction of pedestrians, footpaths are not intended to bear the weight of vehicles as damage may be caused to the surface or services located underneath.

A footpath is the area from the kerb to the property boundary, this includes lawns and gardens. A footpath also includes footway, lane or other place made or constructed for the use of pedestrians and not for the use of vehicles. The section of footpath which enables access to premises, is part of the footpath and is not available for parking. 

Many main roads in the City of Unley have lanes that are provided specifically for bike riders. Signage is installed at the beginning of the lane, along the length of the lane and at the end.

Bike lanes are a single roadside lane indicated by a solid white continuous road marking. The bicycle symbol is painted on the road on intersections, which form part of the bike lane.

Bike lanes were created as a State Government initiative to provide a legitimate and reasonably unimpeded road area for cyclists and to improve road safety.

It is an offence for a vehicle to be parked with any part of that vehicle in a bike lane during the times specified on the bike lane signage. If no times indicated on the sign, the bike lane is in operation 24 hours. You must not stop in a bike lane at all regardless of your reasons to do so. This is considered a serious offence and a severe penalty applies.

Clearways improve traffic flow at the busiest times of the day. A clearway starts at the 'Clearway' sign and ends at the 'End Clearway' sign. You cannot stop your car between these signs during the times specified on the signage. 

Only public buses are permitted in Bus Zones. Bus drivers need unrestricted access to these areas to safely pick up and set down passengers. Unauthorised vehicles create severe inconvenience for bus drivers, particularly during peak periods. Stopping to set down or pick up a passenger is not permitted. 

A driver must not stop within one metre of a fire hydrant, fire hydrant indicator or fire plug indicator. 

Loading Zones are only available for the pickup or set down of goods or items, which are too large or heavy to carry conveniently.

If you have a commercial vehicle you may use a Loading Zone for a maximum of 30 minutes as long as you are loading or unloading. A 'commercial vehicle' means a motor vehicle constructed solely or mainly for the carriage of goods (including a vehicle of the kind commonly called a utility, but excluding a vehicle of the kind commonly called a station wagon or station sedan).

All other vehicles (this includes station wagons and hatchbacks) may only use a Loading Zone for a maximum of 10 minutes if goods, which due to their weight or size are difficult to handle are being picked up or set down.

Stopping your vehicle too close to a children's crossing may mean that a child entering the crossing can't see or be seen by an approaching car.
When a children's crossing is in operation (ie. when the flags are displayed) you must not stop:

• Within 20 metres before the crossing

• Within 10 metres after the crossing.

This means that stopping momentarily to let a child out or pick a child up is an offence.

These restrictions do not apply when flags are not displayed and the crossing is unattended.

However, if there is also a 'No Stopping' sign at the approach to the crossing you must obey it at all times.

Council regularly experiences problems with parking around schools. It is not the responsibility of the Council to provide parking around schools but Council has the difficult task of managing the limited number of on-street spaces available.

For this reason parking restrictions are specifically installed outside schools to control the behaviour of people delivering and collecting students. These restrictions are often installed at the request of the school or nearby residents. Parking patrols ensure the safety of children through enforcement of the parking restrictions.

The basic principle is that a larger number of vehicles can use each space if it is restricted to short term parking and various parking restrictions are used to achieve this. These may include No Stopping, Yellow Edge Line and No Parking restrictions.

Download the Keep Kids Safe - Road Safety Around Schools brochure(PDF, 846KB) for more information.

Under the Australian Road Rules, vehicles 7.5 metres long, or longer, (including a trailer attached) or having a gross vehicle mass (GVM) of more than 4.5 tonnes can only be parked on a road for a maximum of one hour.

Owners or drivers of a vehicle of 3 tonnes or more wishing to park on a residential property require development consent. The type of vehicles that require consent include buses, motor homes, vans, trucks, prime movers, earth moving equipment and associated trailers. 

Some areas within the City of Unley have parking restrictions that require vehicles to display a Residential Parking Permit to legally park in these areas.

An application for a Residential Parking Permit must be made to Council by completing and submitting a Residential Parking Permit application form.

Permits must be displayed on each vehicle while it is parked in the zone to prevent an infringement notice being issued.

Find out more about Residential Parking Permits.

If you wish to seek further information on the definition of trifling see Section 4(2) Expiation of Offences Act 1996.