Why Are You on the Wrong Side of the Road?

In the UK, drivers have long been accustomed to parking on whichever side of the road; legally too, within reason.  This was my street, when I was five years old ...

So ever since the late 1960s, every vehicle has been equipped with reflective license plates; white background on the front plate, yellow background on the rear, so you can not only see them, but also which way they're pointed.

There, you simply don't drive with your high beams on, in what they would term a 'built-up area'.  High beams are strictly for use away from towns and villages, when needed to cut through the darkness.  It makes sense; they have many minor roads with high hedges and no sidewalk or similar, so it's important for drivers to be able to spot hazards ahead.  (During WW2, due to the blackout, a terrible number of pedestrians were killed as they simply weren't seen, and had nowhere to go to get out of the path of oncoming cars with tape over the headlights.)

When I was 5 years old in the UK the rule was that a car parked on the side of a road at night had to have lights. To avoid the battery going flat, instead of turning on the parking lights, you had a single-bulb light, red lens on one side and white on the other. This was secured by winding up a side window so it stuck out on the side of the car away from the sidewalk. It didn't matter so much which direction the car was facing as long as the red and white sides faced the right way, so an oncoming vehicle would not try to pass on the wrong side. Then the law was changed so that lights were not required on streets with street lighting, which made it more important to park the right way round, although this is often ignored.  

Besides the prohibition in Section 190 of the BC MVA, various BC municipalities have bylaws against parking facing the traffic.  Richmond has "...no person shall stop or park a vehicle on a highway other than parallel with the curb or edge of the roadway and headed in the direction in which traffic travels on that side of the highway and, ...". New Westminster is closer to the MVA wording when it says "A person shall stop or park a vehicle only on the right side of the street except except where travel is permitted in a single direction ..."

I assume the penalty may depend on whether you are ticketed by police under the MVA or a bylaw officer under the bylaw.

I recall an incident on the outskirts of Lumby BC.  Many of us have done this and not considered anything wrong with the action.

A friend calls, or you are flagged down.  Someone has a dead battery on their vehicle.  They are stopped, correctly, at the side of the roadway and they need someone to "jump start them".   (battery cables from a running vehicle to a vehicle with a low battery)

Of course the battery on virtually every vehicle is in the front engine compartment necessitating two vehicle to be maneuvered nose to nose.

While the "operation" is being completed on the dark roadway, the headlights of the vehicle providing the "jump" are, of course confusingly facing towards oncoming traffic and on the wrong side of the roadway.

This confused an oncoming vehicle on the highway and there was a fatal collision.  Resulting in all sorts of injuries and of course the fatal injury and a huge law suit.

Expensive way to "save" money on a tow.

And no, helping a disabled driver by placing your vehicle on the wrong side of the roadway is not an exemption of the Motor Vehicle Act. 

Several years ago my wasband and I were heading back from a late Autumn trip to the Rockies. We decided to take Highway 3 as it would afford a slower pace of travel and not so many Yahoos as the Coquihalla or Highway 1 would. We were relaxed from a week away from it all and just wanted to meander our way home. We had come out of the Purcell Mountain range in the early evening and saw road construction signs telling us that road markings and roadside lines and barriers had been removed for upcoming construction. As co-pilot and navigator I said I would pay attention and make sure we didn't find ourself going over any cliffs ahead as we entered into the Selkirk range and began to climb. As the elevation gained we started to see snow begin to fall. We slowed down for the conditions but continued to see others flying past us in both directions. The higher we climbed the more the snow fell and soon we were in near whiteout conditions.

I noted a sign telling us there was a pullout viewpoint ahead on our right but didn't mention it as when I looked over at my wasband he seemed to be pretty lost in deep concentration. Suddenly he said "oh sh!%!!!! and started to veer to the right. As we had come around the corner there in the billowing snow facing us from the viewpoint area was a pickup truck with his lights on high beams waiting out the whiteout conditions. If I hadn't shouted NO and steered from the passenger side at that moment we would have gone off the cliff. We inched our way into the viewpoint pull out 20 feet farther up and I got out and had rather stern words with the Pickup driver. 

So 2 different people post about their knowledge of traffic regulations at the age of 5? Thats impressive.Sure takes the sting out of the theory that todays youth are not allowed to be kids anymore,it sounds like UK has it all sewn up, when it comes to early drivers education.