A motorcyclist is angry at a move from an Auckland Transport parking warden who parked their car in the middle of a road to issue parking tickets.
Urie Bezuidenhout met with a group of other motorcyclists in Auckland's Newmarket on May 3. Due to a lack of motorbike parking, some motorcyclists "inadvertently" parked in front of a private driveway.
"When the warden arrived it must have looked like a lolly scramble, he probably thought he could have made his night's quota of tickets," Dr Bezuidenhout said.
Bezuidenhout said the warden then parked at an intersection directly opposite yellow lines.
"The principle of yellow lines isn't to make it difficult for people, it's actually there for safety reasons. If you park close to the intersection people can't actually see out into the intersection."
When he asked about the warden's decision to park in the middle of the road, the warden apparently told Dr Bezuidenhout he's "got a permit and in order to execute his duties, he can use it however he likes".
Dr Bezuidenhout said although the warden had his hazard lights on they didn't stand out in the bright lights of Auckland city, posing a dangerous hazard for other road users.
"It's a really really bad place to use your vehicle for the sake of writing up tickets."
Dr Bezuidenhout added there was ample space for the warden to park.
"He thought it was necessary to continue to hand out tickets as quick as he could," he said.
He added some of the tickets that were dished out were because of a tyre "marginally" sticking out onto a yellow line.
Auckland Transport responds:
"There's a provision in the Land Transport Rules which allows parking wardens to park where necessary during active enforcement to address compliance issues at hand.
"We try not to, but on some occasions our teams do park where others aren't able to during their patrols, just like Police do. It's important to stress that this is something our teams are legally able to do.
"Our parking enforcement team works really hard to keep our city safe and to keep parks turning over. Through our parking enforcement we keep parking spaces turning over, which significantly improves the availability of on-street parking across our city.
"Reliable parking enforcement is widely supported by retailers and hospitality businesses as it helps get more customers through their doors.
"Safety is always the top priority for everyone at Auckland Transport - whether it's safety of our staff, customers or communities - this is always the priority. We support our staff to take the most appropriate action in their roles."
