Ask Phoebe: Make every park count in the city

NZ Herald

29 Jun, 2015 05:00 PM3 mins to read

The current legal requirement is that you must leave the area of restriction after the time displayed has elapsed. Photo / File

Can you clarify the law on the following scenario?
I sometimes park in a time-restricted parking area that displays a P90 sign. After, say 85 minutes, can I legitimately move my vehicle to a different parking spot, but within the same P90 parking area? Does the time start again, or can I be ticketed after five minutes, ie, when the total parking time in that area exceeds 90 minutes?
Do parking wardens still chalk the tyres, or is a record made electronically?
This has formed an interesting discussion with my husband, who believes that a driver can move to any other space in the same P90 area, and can once again park for 90 minutes. I would be interested in your interpretation of the law.
Gerry Heta, Auckland.

The current legal requirement is that you must leave the area of restriction after the time displayed has elapsed. The area of restriction is defined as the bay that you have parked your vehicle in.

This means that if you were parked in, say, one of six angle parks within a P90 zone and you reversed back out and moved to the next bay, you are deemed to have left the area of restriction and your time starts again.

A parking officer would then be required to re-chalk the vehicle.

Officers would also take additional evidence to support the start times. This might include multiple chalk marks and/or notes in the officer's book.

The law used to be that you had to leave the restriction zone, in this example the six angle parks, and move to another zone governed by appropriate signs and markings.

I often see different coloured cat's eyes on the road, but I don't know what the colours signify. Can you help please? Sam Mossman, Pukekohe.

Cat's eyes are also called road studs or retroreflective raised pavement markers (RRPMs). There are several types of cat's eyes used on the roads in New Zealand and they serve three purposes.

Visual lane marking - using white in the middle and red on the left edge means road users can follow these to stay in their lane. Using yellow where there are yellow no-overtaking lines adds visual reinforcement to the rule.

Tactile lane marking - if you drive over the road studs, you can feel it through the suspension and steering, therefore it's a tactile reminder that you are straying from your lane

Special feature marking is as follows:

Blue marks the location of a fire hydrant. Blue reflectors are installed on or just to the left of the centre line of the roadway. They were first introduced in 2004, and while you may not notice them while you are driving, they are useful for vehicles attending a fire because they can quickly locate a source of water.

Green marks the location of a culvert.

Yellow marks the centre line when you are not allowed to pass or the right edge of a motorway.

White marks between lanes, and where you are permitted to pass.

Red marks the left edge of a motorway.