News
15 January, 2025
Read between signs
A Wamuran resident is calling on Moreton Bay Council to fix countless parking signs that don’t meet the Australian Standard (AS) in terms of visibility from the street.
Barry Wilson has spent over 10 years trying to address the issue of parking signs not facing incoming traffic correctly, resulting in many residents getting Council-issued parking tickets.
According to AS 1742.11 2016 - Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, Part 11, linear parking signs “should not be mounted parallel to the kerb but turned 30 degrees (+/- 10) to partially face oncoming traffic.”
According to Mr. Wilson, there are hundreds of parking signs in Caboolture alone that don’t meet this standard, either by being parallel to the kerb or facing away from oncoming traffic, which make the signs illegible to those parking.
“It’s very simple: there is a standard set and Council should be following it, instead of giving out tickets to cars that can’t see the sign when they park,” Mr. Wilson said.
“I think Council should revoke all tickets given where a sign was not correctly facing incoming traffic, and instead fix the problem.
When you do something wrong, you should remedy it, not justify it.”
Mr. Wilson also added that he believes many residents aren’t even aware these signs aren’t meeting the Australian Standard, making it impossible for them to dispute tickets issued.
According to the Queensland Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the word “should” in the AS 1742.11-2016 indicates a recommendation, rather than mandatory usage. However, it is stated that “any recommendation that is not applied must be based on sound traffic engineering judgement and documented.”
Mr. Wilson said he has never been provided any documentation by Council to justify the wrong angle of any signs he has reported.
A Council spokesperson has confirmed that Moreton Bay Council is aware “that some parking signs may be parallel to the kerb rather than at an angle,” but said Council would not allocate resources to “proactively review and rotate signs,” restating that “it is not considered absolutely necessary” for parking restriction signs to be installed at an angle according to State rules.
“As long as motorists are reasonably able to identify the restriction at a location, there is no need to change the orientation of the signs,” they said.
“To help ensure motorists have reasonable opportunity to observe parking restriction signs, Council will usually install parking restriction signs at a closer spacing than the standard 75m maximum spacing, allowing motorists to see the signs from a parked position, rather than relying on seeing the signs as they drive past.
Council would consider the orientation of individual signs when installing new signs or replacing existing signs.”
The spokesperson also added that it does cost the Council to fix the angling of existing signs, including staff time and vehicle and fuel usage, with there being a number of potential reasons why a sign may be parallel to the kerb or facing the wrong way. These include signs being installed prior to the orientation being standardized, people deliberately rotating them, people accidentally rotating them, vehicles hitting them, or strong winds turning them.
When asked about refunding parking tickets to cars where a sign wasn’t on an angle, the spokesperson said Council would waive or refund an infringement notice incorrectly issued, if they are made aware.
“There is an option for a customer to request a review if they believe it to be issued incorrectly,” they said.
“Where motorists feel that parking or any sign is not positioned or orientated in a way that allows the target drivers to see the sign adequately, they can report this to Council for officers to review and make any necessary adjustments.”
A request to review a sign can be lodged with Council by calling 3205 0555 or by lodging a request online via Council’s ‘Contact Us Online’ webpage here.
