Parking Sign Confusion Leads to Incorrect Towing of Cars in Sydney

[TowForce]

Parking signs can be confusing at times, and a particularly cryptic one in Sydney recently resulted in cars being wrongly towed. Eddy Meyer, a Senior 9News reporter, experienced this firsthand while on Kent Street in central Sydney with a cameraman and assistant.

 

The team parked their car and examined the parking sign, which had eight different directives. They even paid for two hours of parking using a ticket machine. However, upon returning, they discovered that their car had been towed.

 

After making a call to the towing company, the driver coincidentally happened to be nearby and came to discuss the situation with them. It turned out that the confusion arose from an addition to the clearway section of the sign, related to a public holiday in New South Wales.

 

The sign stated: “Special Event Clearway 2pm-9pm Sat 30 Sept, Sun 1 Oct, Mon 2 Oct.” While the interpretation was that the clearway was in effect from 2-9pm on each of these days, the towing company had understood it to mean that the clearway was in place from 2pm on Saturday until 9pm on Monday.

 

Meyer clarified that he did not blame the tow truck driver, as he was just doing his job based on the information he had been given. However, the misunderstanding led to multiple cars being towed.

 

Transport for NSW acknowledged the error and stated that the tow truck company had towed the vehicles incorrectly. They are working with the company to rectify any fines and fees and have expressed apologies for the inconvenience caused.

 

Transport for NSW is continually striving to ensure that road and parking signs are as clear as possible, while still providing the necessary information. Efforts are being made to avoid such confusion in the future.

 

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