# Not sure if I can park here... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 24, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574 "2014-01-24T00:35:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Robrein](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robrein/32/6728_2.png) [@Robrein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robrein)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/1 "2014-01-24T00:35:29Z")
So do any doppers out there know of a more confusing set of [parking signs](http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/dropoff-pickup-go-stop-yes-no-is-this-the-craziest-street-sign-youve-seen/story-fni0cx12-1226809083342)? Sydney is just strange sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/2 "2014-01-24T01:02:32Z")
I think it is time to either rethink the parking planning in that spot or to invest in some of those computer controlled LED signs that can display changes to the parking procedure on demand. Computers are good at that type of thing. People using multiple signs with stickers added to them to figure things out are not. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/3 "2014-01-24T01:23:34Z")
Gah - I’d rather see a, “No Parking At All Times” sign that one like that. All I can figure from that sign is that there may or may not be a very small window of time when you actually can safely park there. ---
**Author:** ![Robrein](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robrein/32/6728_2.png) [@Robrein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robrein)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/4 "2014-01-24T02:36:30Z")
What I want to know is can I park there this Monday during the day? It’s a public holiday, so do I buy a ticket and park less then 4 hours or does the no parking mon-fri over rule? > [@](#): > > I think it is time to either rethink the parking planning in that spot or to invest in some of those computer controlled LED signs that can display changes to the parking procedure on demand. Computers are good at that type of thing. People using multiple signs with stickers added to them to figure things out are not. Agreed! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/5 "2014-01-24T03:01:56Z")
Wow, I thought some of the signs in downtown Chicago were confusing, but that one takes the cake. I _think_ I figured it out for the most part, but **Robrein** brings up a good point about what does one do if the public holiday falls on Monday through Friday? I would assume the Mon - Fri sign should NOT be in effect, but that’s making assumptions. Case in point: I’m still a little irritated about this one, but a few years ago, I parked where the GMC is [here](http://www.pawinskiphotography.com/public/parking.jpg). The top sign marks the end of a metered parking zone. The bottom sign says Loading Zone No Parking 6 am - 6 pm, Mon - Fri. I found the spot there on a Sunday. Since I was behind the “Pay For Parking At Pay Box” sign, I figured I was in the clear. Just so nobody thinks I was being clever, in the parking meter days, this was not too unusual. That spot would not have a meter in front of it, so on Sundays, if it was open, hey! Free parking! But, no, I got nailed. So I contested it by mail, with photo and everything. My record for getting contested tickets reversed is down to about 35%, but it was 50-50 for awhile. Nope, the ticket was affirmed. At that point, I could have filed an appeal, gone in front of a judge, yaddayaddayadda, but it wasn’t worth my time, so I just sent it in. That one pissed me off because that was one of the few where I really felt I really was in the right. The other ones I just contested to contest, because it never hurts. So, on the balance, I guess it evens out. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/6 "2014-01-24T04:39:39Z")
Well, I’m pretty sure you can’t park there between 6 and 11 PM on the 26th… A favorite sign of mine is [this one](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/West_580_with_East_80.jpg) in Oakland. Which direction am I driving?!? ---
**Author:** ![Melaleuca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Melaleuca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melaleuca)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/7 "2014-01-24T04:43:13Z")
The yellow sign about a tow-away zone has been tacked on especially for next Monday, January 26th, which is Australia Day. There will be double the usual pedestrian traffic in the CBD that day, so roads that usually allow parking are being kept clear. Since this is on a busy thoroughfare through the city CBD, how long would you think the drivers queued up behind you would give you to interpret the sign before you decided you were allowed to park there? This is actually a symptom of the Sydney City Council eliminating a lot of the street-parking spaces in the CBD, so the few that are left have to do a lot of multi-tasking. They want to revitalise the city centre with retail precincts, but go look at where the poor delivery drivers have to park to service them - on footpaths, in No Standing zones, on staircases, up a lightpole… ---
**Author:** ![Robrein](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robrein/32/6728_2.png) [@Robrein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robrein)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/8 "2014-01-24T04:50:58Z")
Monday is the 27th, which is a public holiday because Australia Day is on Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/9 "2014-01-24T07:16:57Z")
I’m pretty sure that the white zone is for loading and unloading only and that there is no stopping in the red zone. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/10 "2014-01-24T15:26:45Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m pretty sure that the white zone is for loading and unloading only and that there is no stopping in the red zone. Listen Betty, don’t start up with your white zone shit again. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/11 "2014-01-24T15:54:22Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > A favorite sign of mine is [this one](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/West_580_with_East_80.jpg) in Oakland. Which direction am I driving?!? Because of loop highways that’s not uncommon. We have that around Boston with I-95 and I-93. [This sign](http://www.bostoncoasters.com/sources/7/images/1220-500h.jpg) as you drive into Davis Square in Somerville, MA is one of my favorites. Try to figure that out at 30 MPH. Fortunately traffic is rarely flowing that fast. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/12 "2014-01-24T15:59:28Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Well, I’m pretty sure you can’t park there between 6 and 11 PM on the 26th… > A favorite sign of mine is [this one](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/West_580_with_East_80.jpg) in Oakland. Which direction am I driving?!? Its Oakland. The correct answer is “away”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/13 "2014-01-24T18:46:08Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Listen Betty, don’t start up with your white zone shit again. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/14 "2014-01-24T23:27:52Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Because of loop highways that’s not uncommon. We have that around Boston with I-95 and I-93. > > [This sign](http://www.bostoncoasters.com/sources/7/images/1220-500h.jpg) as you drive into Davis Square in Somerville, MA is one of my favorites. Try to figure that out at 30 MPH. Fortunately traffic is rarely flowing that fast. 🙂 The amoebas in Somerville name their arms? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/15 "2014-01-25T08:38:21Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > A favorite sign of mine is [this one](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/West_580_with_East_80.jpg) in Oakland. Which direction am I driving?!? Not, not Oakland really (well, maybe a bit of a piece of this road is in Oakland). You’re driving more-or-less north, actually, through Berkeley. If you continue much farther, you will end up in San Rafael and New York simultaneously. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/16 "2014-01-25T09:08:26Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Gah - I’d rather see a, “No Parking At All Times” sign that one like that. All I can figure from that sign is that there may or may not be a very small window of time when you actually can safely park there. Since it’s 8 pm on Saturday, you can park there now, until 10 pm, with a ticket that you get out of the ticket machine. In 2 hours it becomes a taxi zone. At 6 am tomorrow, you can park there without restriction. At 8 am tomorrow it becomes a 4-hour parking zone, with a ticket. At 6 pm tomorrow it becomes a special-event clearway. But people should not expect to park in the Sydney CBD at any time without restrictions – and if there are no restrictions, someone else will have beaten you to the parking spot. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/17 "2014-01-25T12:41:40Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Gah - I’d rather see a, “No Parking At All Times” sign that one like that. If I were looking for parking near there, I’d just treat it as ‘No Parking’ and keep looking further down. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/18 "2014-01-25T14:09:03Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > The amoebas in Somerville name their arms? Yes. Yes they do. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/19 "2014-01-25T20:49:05Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > The amoebas in Somerville name their arms? There used to be a section of road in nearby Arlington where a stretch of road was North, South, East, and West of different routes. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574/20 "2014-01-25T21:18:44Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > A favorite sign of mine is [this one](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/West_580_with_East_80.jpg) in Oakland. Which direction am I driving?!? Probably north. 🙂 I find that if you mentally prepend “logical” to these direction signs, they make a lot more sense. “Oh, so I-80 is logically eastbound here? And I-580 is logical west? I can deal with that.” It just means that over the course of the entire highway, this direction ends up further east than it began, even if the particular bit you are on is going in another physical direction. And is shared with another highway going west overall. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-can-park-here/679574.md?page=2)