Want to rent my drive? Parking mad?

Oct 2 2008 by Andrew Baldwin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Would you consider renting off your driveway as a car park? Some do, such is the pressure to find affordable and easy parking. ANDREW BALDWIN reports

‘Signs were deliberately misleading so drivers could be caught and fined’

THE very act of parking the car drives most motorists round the bend.

Drivers are puzzled about where to park, how to park and how much to pay, says a survey for esure car insurance.

It’s a confusing issue all round and many people reckon the fines they get for breaking the rules are unfair.

As many as a quarter of those surveyed have been issued with a parking fine in the last year.

And 69% of those reckon it was wrong that they were penalised.

The survey of 1,003 drivers also revealed that 93% were confused about parking regulations.

Nearly three-quarters (74%) failed to recognise all the Highway Code rules for parking and 29% said their local parking policies changed frequently.

More than half (53%) said they had come across contradictory parking signs in the same area while 73% reported a lack of parking signs.

As many as 60% felt some parking signs were deliberately misleading so drivers could be caught and fined.

Some 10% received parking penalties at hospital car parks.

Just under half (48%) had contested a fine when they believed they had been unfairly treated, with many thinking they had no chance of winning their case.