No definitive answer to this. All you can do is park it in the road and see what happens. If you are required by the council to move it then you will have to.
I'm ole bill, and unless it obstructs the Queens highway my force would not take, or react to any complaint to police. In normal circumstances there is no offence, with no tax required, and no insurance needed, however if the unit became dangerous to others it may be removed by the local authority, 7 days or 24 hours if very dangerous, the police would advise to discuss with local council who may have an enforcement policy for that Local area, but due to cut backs this will likely not be a local priority, be this said, I would advise as an officer, to consider alternative parking locations. Maybe a friend or local elderly person, who could allow you to park in their unused driveway for a monthly small fee, you could consider this a way to build on community spirit, and get to know your neighbours and be a neighbour to call upon! if its a new unit, insure it! You may not have cover for regularly parking it on your road, but ask the question by getting a quote first before you buy. Should you fail, to ask and get cover, and make a claim with slightly embellished circumstances, you may commit fraud, then you will be chatting to a fellow boy or girl in blue, with free bed and breakfast.
I don't think I would want to park my caravan in the road for anything other than a very short time. i.e. no more than a couple of days. My concerns would be damage to it from other vehicles or vandals, and whether it would be likely to restrict access by emergency vehicles, especially fire engines, while I was not there to move it when required. When at work for instance.
Is the road wide enough for a fire engine to get through, even if someone left a van parked opposite it for example? In my road that would be impossible even if someone parked a motorbike opposite.
devil99qa, as a police officer, your advice does surprise me. Any vehicle, be it a car, caravan or skip, when parked on a public road is by definition an obstruction of the Queen's highway. This was explained to me many years ago by an AA solicitor. My car was at the end of a street, and parked on flooded, broken bricks that, if it were not for it temporarily being a building site, would have been the pavement.
Further along the street was a drive-in bank, and the manager had complained about parked cars causing inconvenience to his customers. A police officer "did" the whole row of cars, not just those near the bank exit, including mine parked on an otherwise unusable area, and not actually on the roadway itself.
It was a lesson learned and I've never been caught out like that again. Don't EVER believe the police won't act if it suits them, is my advice!
Bertie.
Cars have to be legally on the road, with tax, albeit no displayed disc, insured, and therefore not the same rules as a caravan. Skips need to clearly marked with agents details and lit at night, further rules apply, no legal requirement for insurance, not the same as caravans! Caravans do not need insurance and they do not need to be lit at night! My point being there are different rules for various vehicles on the road, I use this term to describe the point, but a caravan and skip are not vehicles according to legal definition, likewise many other kinds of mechanically propelled machines. All users of the queens highway have to abide by the law. They cannot cause wilful obstructions of the highway. They render themselves liable to arrest. The test is an objective test! your point about all being a technical obstruction of the highway, may be in theory a point, but that sets a threshold only and the objective, common sense approach by any enforcement officer, police, or council, has to be considered. to park on private land is a civil matter and enforceable with PCN, which I would not personally pay for, they are not subject to road traffic act and not issued by law enforcement. The PC who did the whole street next too the bank, may have been a local SNT officer and instead of issuing a FPN, or fixed penalty notice, may have issued a warning notice to the user of those vehicles concerned. A tactic normally adopted by my officers, or if he did issue Parking FPN's were they on footpaths, across driveways, was there a notice present to prevent parking? therefore I cannot comment without further details, all I will say that ever ticket, has an option to seek a court hearing, especially if you are in the right!
So hopefully, or may be not, you will not be surprised! I personally would not like to see vans parked outside my house on the street, I personally think its not nice to see and can lower the tone of the area. But its not illegal unless certain factors are present.
No person may allow to remain parked, or cause or permit to be allowed
to remain parked, between sunset and sunrise
—
(b)
a trailer to the front of which no other vehicle is attached and which is not required to be fitted with front position lamps,
unless a pair of front position lamps is fitted and kept lit and
unobscured.
saxo1
The greatest problem is the law relating to obstruction of the public highway, which also includes safety hazards. A caravan is a substantially sized object and can easily create a blind spot, resulting in risk for another driver reversing off an adjacent driveway.
So there are to aspects to consider:
(a) the possibility of a resident complaining to the police following a near miss or an actual collision, or
(b) the police/local authority spotting I as hazard and ordering its immediate removal.
One thing is for sure - when you enter into the field of uncertainty, you can't be certain of what the outcome might be.
Bertie
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Topic: parking caravan on the street
