No, there are no explicit legal prohibitions on driving through vacant car parking spaces. However, it’s crucial to remember that individual car parks may enforce their own unique set of regulations, and police may issue fines for dangerous behaviour no matter the location.
In Australia’s car parks, whether they be open-air, multi-story, or underground, there exists a curious absence of statutory laws specifically governing the act of driving through empty parking spaces. This is not to say that such actions are without potential repercussions.
Car parks, in their various forms, typically fall under the jurisdiction of either the private owner of the facility, the landowner, or the local council in the case of public car parks. As such, each car park may have its own unique set of rules and regulations.
While there are no explicit laws prohibiting the manoeuvre of cutting through vacant parking spaces, it’s worth noting that police have the authority to issue fines for driving without due care or attention, or in a manner that could be deemed negligent or dangerous. Council rangers, rather than police personnel, are typically the ones issuing fines in public car parks.
Driving through empty car parking spaces may seem harmless, especially if one is careful to watch for pedestrians and proceed with caution. However, it’s advisable to refrain from doing so in unfamiliar car parks. Hidden hazards such as speed humps, concrete kerbs or parking bay barriers, drains, or even split-level garden beds could pose a significant risk to both your vehicle and the surrounding property or individuals.
Even at walking pace, striking any of these hazards could result in serious damage to your car, or worse, send it out of control into parked cars or pedestrians. Therefore, it’s recommended to only cut through empty spaces if you can clearly see ahead of you and only when necessary. Even in familiar car parks, new hazards might have been installed since your last visit.
Interestingly, there is a lack of uniform rules from local councils about driving through empty car parks. While police don’t have the power to issue parking fines in private car parks, they do have the authority to enter the car park. This highlights the complex interplay between different authorities and regulations in managing the seemingly mundane act of navigating through a car park.
