The unspoken rules and etiquette of car parks

There’s one part of your travel you can’t always plan for – finding a parking spot.

When you’re under a time crunch, the last thing you want is to sit in bumper to bumper traffic in a busy car park, just waiting for a spot to become available. 

It’s something many of us have experienced, so much so that 9honey decided to speak to a bunch of drivers to find out their biggest gripes in the parking lot.

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We’ve compiled a list of the car park etiquette – plus the outright ‘no’s’ – when it comes to parking, according to our team.

Don’t hold up a busy car park

If you’re leaving the car park, try not to hold up the traffic.

“When it’s a busy car park and people are waiting for spots, do not sit in your car for ages and unpack your trolley one item at a time,” one of our staff members says. 

We’re not saying once you get to your car you have 0.5 seconds to move it.

Simply just don’t dally and take forever when you know there’s people waiting.

There’s other places you can check your phone where you’re not holding up traffic.

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Indicator on means that spot has been ‘bagsed’

If you see an indicator on, keep driving – that spot has already been called ‘dibs’. 

It’s common knowledge whoever has their indicator on first has bagged the spot.

Don’t be that person on the other side of the road who drives into a car spot when you already saw someone waiting with their indicator flashing.

You won’t be thrown out of the car park, but chances are you’ll get some dirty looks.

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You can’t ‘bags’ a spot by standing in it

This one is much like when you’re at the shops or queuing up for something and someone skips the line in front of you because their friend – who got there later than you – has just arrived.

You can’t have your friend or passenger physically stand in a spot to ‘bags’ it.

The rule is simple: first in line, first served.

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Try to park in line with other cars

This one is for small cars: try to park so your car is visible to oncoming drivers. 

This is simply to avoid someone turning on their indicator only to drive up closer and realise there is actually a car in the spot they initially thought was free.

One of our staff members suggests for this reason, “it’s polite to park with your back bumper in line with every other car”.

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Don’t park on the lines

The lines are there for a reason.

Try to park within the white lines on either side so you leave plenty of room for the cars next to you to open their doors.

This one is also for your own car as you don’t want someone accidentally scratching the side of your car because they’ve opened their door a bit too far trying to squeeze out. 

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Know how to pay before you get to the boom gates

Now it’s time to leave the car park. You’ve got your ticket at the ready and your window rolled down as you approach the boom gate.

What you don’t want to do next is hold up the queue behind you because you don’t know how to work the pay machine.

“By the time I’m leaving a car park I am over it, I want to get out of there as quick as possible,” one of our staff says.

If you’re not 100 per cent sure you can work the pay machines with ease, you could always see if there’s other machines you can pay at that aren’t at the exit.

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