Driver fined $362 for little-known driveway mistake: ‘Screwed us over’

A couple claim they have been ‘screwed over’ by their local council after copping a $362 parking fine for parking across their own driveway – despite doing the same thing for the past 12 years.

The fine, which was issued last year by Lake Macquarie City Council in NSW, has left the couple continuing to suffer as two demerit points were taken on top of the fine which caused their Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance to soar by “hundreds of dollars” each year.

Kate’s council claim comes after residents erupted online over a pamphlet circulated to residents in the area explaining little-known parking rules. “Are (council) kidding themselves?” the one local wrote online with dozens of residents sharing their frustration at receiving purposes outside their homes.

Another resident said they’d copped two fines, describing council’s move as a “crackdown.” “There are plenty of other people in the area with the same flu,” Yahoo told.

“I even went to my local MP to help and they answered it,” resident Kate told Yahoo News Australia of the fine. “We had photos to prove there was still walking room.”

“I even looked at the legislation and there is not a measurement of what is considered a footpath,” she said.

“We haven’t made this mistake again,” she explained, adding “we can’t afford the points. It’s since added hundreds to my husband’s cost of his green slip due to the points he has so it really screwed us over.

Council deny ‘crackdown’ on residents’ parking

Council are adamant that there is no “specific crackdown” on residential parking, but that council rangers “conduct reactive patrols when we receive complaints from the community, and proactive patrols that focus on vehicle turnover for timed parking areas.

“We are receiving an increasing number of complaints from the community each year about instances of parking non-compliance.”

In the first six months of this year, it issued 440 fines for similar offenses, including 226 fines for parking on nature strips, 135 fines for parking on nature strips in school zones, 35 fines for parking on driveways in school zones, and another 44 for parking across driveways in built up areas.

They explained that NSW road rules state that “you cannot park your vehicle on or across a driveway or prevent access to that property.

“The purpose of this rule is to ensure pedestrian access is not restricted and visibility for other road users and pedestrians is not reduced.

“The examples provided show that safe passage is not provided across the section of driveway outside the property boundary. “This particular offense was also within a school zone during the morning arrivals of children trying to make their way to school safely.”

Shockingly, council reporting app Snap Send Solve told Yahoo that it has seen a 243 per cent increase in illegal parking in July across Australia compared to the same period last year.

Expert confirms ‘it is illegal’ to park across driveway

NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury told Yahoo “It’s illegal to park across your own driveway.

“It’s in the rule book so people should know. How would the police know who owns the car in the driveway? If emergency services need to access that driveway for some reason, they’re not able to do so if you parked across it.

“If they weren’t parking across their own driveway, imagine if you were the owner of the house and you tried to get out and someone had parked across your driveway. So that’s why the rule is the way it is.”

In New South Wales, the price of Compulsory Third Party (CTP) cover, also known as a Green Slip, is affected by demerit points, according to Canstar.

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