Saturday, March 7, 2009

Parking allowed inside yellow line at KIA (Kuching Int. Airport)

KUCHING: The High Court yesterday concurred with the magistrates’ court that drivers can park their cars inside the yellow line in front of the departure hall of the Kuching International Airport (KIA).

As such, it dismissed an appeal by the Road Transport Department (RTD) against the magistrates’ court decision that a certain retired engineer did not breach the rule when he parked his car in the vacant eight-foot space inside the yellow line last year.

The retiree’s vehicle did not obstruct traffic, the High Court held.

“This decision will save many drivers from being summonsed and charged in court by the RTD for parking their cars inside the yellow line at the KIA,” an interested party pointed out in a press statement yesterday.

The retiree (respondent in yesterday’s appeal case) who took his relative to KIA last year, parked his vehicle inside the yellow line and was issued a summons by the RTD.

The respondent argued that as the vehicle was inside the yellow line, it did not obstruct the flow of traffic.

Anyway, there was no sign along the road prohibiting parking and waiting.

The yellow line is about eight feet from the edge of the road and not the usual 12-inch, he stressed.

The placement of the yellow line clearly shows that the land transport authority has the intention to allow the space to be used for any legitimate purpose including the temporary parking of cars, he argued.

Convinced that he was legally right, he took the matter to the magistrates’ court which subsequently agreed with him.

Unhappy with the magistrates’ court decision, the RTD appealed to the High Court. The appeal was struck off.

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