Please don’t park by double yellow lines
Just out of curiosity, don’t double yellow lines mean you can’t park there? Every time I cross Smith Cove, there is a line of cars parked along the double yellow lines and I have yet to see a police car attempting to move any of them or issue tickets for illegal parking. Maybe I’m mistaken and the double yellow lines are for decoration only …just wondered.
Auntie’s answer: You are not the only person who has queried what the rules are for parking by double yellow lines. I’m sure this won’t surprise you to know this situation has come up before in different locations.
But since there clearly are drivers out there who think those yellow lines do not apply to them or they simply don’t care, I will try to say this as simply and straightforwardly as I can, and use words of few syllables, just in case. If anyone needs to, feel free to read the following sentence slowly. Here goes: Anyone who parks by a double yellow line commits an offence.
Section 108 of The Traffic Law, 2011 sets out all the rules concerning parking by yellow lines, including a 15-minute limit for goods vehicles unloading and loading (unless a sign prohibits that).
You can find more details about this, including explanations about this rule by a representative of the RCIPS Traffic Management Unit, in a previous column (see Parking by double yellow lines).
I hope that answers the whole double-yellow line question once and for all.
The law mentioned in this column can be found on the CNS Library
Category: Ask Auntie, Parking Questions
Hi
I think you have missed the point, If a car is at the side of the road blocking traffic on a double yellow then you have committed an offence, and a ticket should be issued.
At smith cove you seem to be able to park the other side of the yellow lines i.e. off the road where a pavement (sidewalk) would normally be (don’t get me started on why we have such few pavements in cayman) then you are not blocking traffic and until recently at smith cove were on private land. The yellow lines are not stopping this and as long as you are totally off the road you should not be ticketed.
However after an argument with a policewoman outside a school at walkers road, where there are no yellow lines she decided she would ticket people for stopping and causing and obstruction, I argued that stopping at the side of the road was not causing the obstruction it was the people in the middle stopping to turn. Eventually after getting her sergeant she gave in and did not ticket the people at the side of the road. So even though i had the highway code book with me and she could not show anything in that (my son was learning to drive at that point) she made up her own rules, this seems the Cayman way.
Train the police properly, issue tickets, why not give 20% commision and make some traffic wardens/traffic patrol. in cayman they could be on big money and would easily make more money for the country and fill some jobs for unskilled locals they could enforce all the road laws that are being ignored. also put fine up for parking in a disabled bay to $500, stop cars with tints and no number plates.
Come on Cayman start with crime on the roads train up some wardens and give them powers, then the police might have time to solve some actual robberies shootings and rapes.
This is why we need Traffic Wardens. On duty 24×7 whereever they may be. Pay them a percentage of the paid tickets they write. They could deal with all static violations – parking (yellow lines, handicap, sidewalks, etc.), expired tax discs, etc. Leave the police to deal with criminals.
To make our displeasure known to the idiots, I suggest blow your horn loudly as you pass by very closely.
It is not just the Police. I am yet to see a single element of Cayman Law that is effectively, consistently, fairly and equally enforced.
Govt could pay all the overtime and back pay owed to the RCIPS if they actually enforced the laws – effectively earning their salaries 🙂
Got to love it when the “Trolly Roger” is parked over the double yellow lines by Smiths Cove. Man I hate that thing!
Half the time it just stops in the middle of the road, such a hazard.
Auntie. Did you not know our laws are irrelevant? The proof is in the pudding. If the police do not mind parking on double yellow lines, then it must be legal!
The one that annoys me most is the white DOE truck that parks on those double yellow lines and half way across the lane headed to town every morning at rush hour while they clean the beach. Despite there being an empty car park across the road and plenty of space further along to park inside of the double yellow lines.
True enough and let’s face it…that road is narrow enough without being further restricted with ‘sticking out’ cars !
You mean the DEH truck. And, the same 4×4 truck that they managed to get stuck on the beach.
The RCIPS need an active Traffic Department with ticket books, tow trucks, and an impound lot.
Police would actually have to get out of their car and the comfort of the AC to deal with this problem. No chance of that happening
This is just one of the many, many laws in the Cayman Islands that are not even attempted to be enforced by the police….like the leash law, litter law, window tint on cars law, planning law, pay your government fees law, drink driving law etc etc. Don’t forget we were once called “the lawless Caymanas”. Nothing has changed.
Sadly, its become a part of the land-scape here in line with the rest of the Caribbean & should really come as no surprise , especially as the population growth has expanded in recent decades . Abiding by laws has to be a part of the culture that you grow up with instilled by both parents & the society, from a young age. From a young age , you also learn to respect those in charge of law enforcement , not just the police either.